Press reports out of Turkey on Friday cite Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as referring to an “agreement” with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras – whom he met on Thursday in Brussels – to resolve the issue of two Greek servicemen still held in pre-trial detention in the neighboring country, in tandem with the diplomatic “thorn” involving eight asylum seekers, all cashiered Turkish army personnel.
Erdogan was quoted by Turkish media after his meeting with Tsipras, where he referred only to a “violation of borders”, in the case of the two Greek servicemen.
By the same accounts, the politically dominant Turkish leader said his Greek interlocutor, Tsipras, is aware of Ankara’s “determination to combat the Gulenists” – the latter a reference to widespread allegations and ongoing judicial proceedings against the Gulen movement, which Erdogan and Turkish authorities hold responsible for staging the July 2016 coup.
If accurate, the latest press reports out of Turkey again link the issue of the two Greek servicemen – held without charges or a fixed court date since March 1, after inadvertently crossing a few meters into Turkish territory – with the eight Turks who requested asylum in Greece after fleeing Turkey immediately after the failed putsch.
“… I explained our insistence over the extradition of the eight putschists who fled to Greece. Of course, he (Tsipras) remained fixed on the issue of the two servicemen, who illegally entered the border at Edirne. In order to resolve these issues we agreed to make an effort in good faith,” was the quote attributed to Erdogan.
The Turkish leader was also reportedly broached Ankara’s long-standing insistence that muftis assigned to the Muslim minority in Greece’s Thrace region be elected by the faithful, instead of being appointed by the Greek state – similar to the regime followed currently in Turkey – restoration of an Ottoman era mosque in downtown Athens, the long-standing Cyprus issue and other Greek-Turkish matters.
