Turkish court rejects appeal for release of two Greek soldiers

A Turkish court has rejected a request for the release of two Greek soldiers who were arrested for illegally crossing the border into the country and allegedly entering a prohibited Turkish military zone.

The Greek soldiers were detained last week for entering a forbidden military zone in the northern province of Edirne in Turkey, and as Turkish security sources reported the two men faced charges of "attempted military espionage.”

Lawyers for the two Greek soldiers — a lieutenant and a sergeant — filed a demand for their release at the court in Edirne on Monday.

The court rejected the appeal and ruled that the pair must remain in custody on grounds that they did not have permanent residence in Turkey and should await result of examining the “digital data” seized from them, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.

Rejecting the allegations leveled by Turkey, the Greek army said the two had accidentally lost their way in bad weather while patrolling around the Evros River that divides the two neighboring countries.

The soldiers told prosecutors that they had erroneously entered through a border crossing after "following footprints in the snow in an attempt to stop migrant smuggling.”

Speaking before the court's decision, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias called on Ankara to "apply the provisions of international law and not turn a routine procedure into a major legal and political problem.”

Separately on Monday, Turkish police detained four suspected members of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group as part of an investigation into a possible attack on the US embassy in the capital Ankara.

The arrests came as the US mission had earlier been closed temporarily due to an unspecified security threat.

SS