Turkey criticizes Greece for granting asylum to servicemen
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's foreign minister has bemoaned Greece's decision to grant asylum to a group of servicemen who fled to Greece a day after Turkey's 2016 failed coup.
Mevlut Cavusoglu said that if the tables were reversed, Turkey would never "shelter" coup-plotters acting against Greece.
Cavusoglu made the comments Tuesday during a visit by his Greek counterpart, Nikos Kotzias, who was in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir to inaugurate the renovated Greek Consulate building.
Turkey is demanding the extradition of eight servicemen who fled to northern Greece in a military helicopter. Greece's Supreme Court refused to return them, arguing they wouldn't get a fair trial and that their lives would be in danger.
Some of them have been granted asylum by Greek courts while others' requests are still being processed.
