Turkish airmen who fled coup can stay in Greece | World | The Times & The Sunday Times
Two majors and a sergeant who flew a military helicopter into Greece after the botched coup in Turkey and requested asylum will not be extradited, a Greek court has ruled. The decision, which threatens to damage relations with Ankara, almost certainly means that five other Turkish soldiers who were part of the group that landed in northern Greece in July this year will not be returned.
Justice officials said that the tribunal’s decision yesterday was unanimous after the men’s lawyers argued that they faced grave threats to their safety if they were returned to Turkey. The country has arrested 37,000 people and sacked or suspended 100,000 more who were allegedly connected with the coup attempt or the faction behind it. About 265 people died on both sides. The court agreed that Ankara had failed to provide sufficient evidence linking the three to the coup attempt. The surprise decision was greeted with cheers and elation among the Turkish men, including Ahmet Güzel, an air force major stationed at a Nato airbase in Istanbul. In the weeks after they landed in Greece it had appeared likely that they would be sent back.
The sheer scale of the Turkish purge has alarmed Turkey’s allies in Europe and beyond, raising fears that it could be sliding towards authoritarian rule. “This is a historic legal victory,” Stavroula Tomara, the men’s lawyer, said. “Greek justice has proven that it is truly unbiased and Europe can stand proud of defending its human rights record,” she told The Times.
None of the eight Turkish troops — two majors, four captains and two sergeants — has yet been granted political asylum by the Greek authorities. Turkey’s defence minister, Fikri Isik, said after the verdict that Ankara still expected Greece to hand over the fugitives. “Our expectation from the Greek government is to display every kind of effort possible for [the eight] to be returned,” he said. Legal experts said that Turkey could appeal, pushing any final decision into the hands of the Greek justice minister. Three more of the men were due to face a similar extradition hearing today.