Media reports in Athens on Tuesday cited a same-day bounty issued by Ankara against eight former Turkish military officers that have sought political asylum in Greece since July 2016, in the wake of a failed coup in the neighboring country.
The report, if verified, comes on the day that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is scheduled to arrive in Ankara for a two-day official visit.
The first reports said the Turkish government offered 700,000 USD for each of the eight men, ex-army officers and NCOs assigned to the army’s aviation wing.
The Erdogan-dominated Turkish government has strenuously maintained that the eight were participants in the July 2016 coup, and that they are members of the Gulen movement. All eight Turks have also been placed on a terrorist list by Ankara.
