The fate of eight Turkish servicemen that requested political asylum in Greece after landing with a military helicopter at a northeast airport a day after an abortive coup in the neighboring country last July is generating international and domestic scrutiny.
The fate of eight Turkish servicemen that requested political asylum in Greece after landing with a military helicopter at a northeast airport a day after an abortive coup in the neighboring country last July is generating international and domestic scrutiny.
In a haphazard course through the labyrinth of the Greek judicial system so far, the appeals by the eight have been divided into three separate cases of asylum, with separate appellate councils ruling against Ankara's extradition request in two instances -- while one such council ruled in favor of the extradition for two of the eight men.
The appeals by the Turkish servicemen were separately heard over consecutive days, whereas an appellate-level prosecutor appealed the decisions of the two councils - to the supreme court -- prohibiting the extradition. The capriciousness of the process combined with the gravity of the case caused negative reactions in both Greece and abroad.
The Financial Times, in a dispatch from Athens, noted that the majority leftist government under Alexis Tsipras will come face severe criticism in case the extradition of the eight proceeds.
FT also carries statements made by the Greek premier to Turkish leader Tayyip Recep Erdogan, to the effect that coup participants are not welcome in Greece. Alexis Tsipras is quoted, however, as telling Erdogan that his leftist government will face intense criticism from within the country and Europe if the extradition proceeds, "something that the government can carry out, independent of what the high court rules".
FT also reminds that both Greek law and EU law forbid the extradition of a defendant to a country where he or she may face torture.
Conversely, the UK-based newspaper notes that many officials in Athens are concerned that the increasingly authoritarian Erdogan administration will retaliate against Greece by unleashing new waves of refugees / migrants / asylum seekers that have congregated in western Turkey from around the world and want to land on the Greek isles before continuing on to western Europe.
Süddeutsche Zeitung posts an article entitled "Massacre of conscience for 15 judges", in referring to the same high-profile case, days before separate hearings convene at the Greek supreme court over the Turkish servicemen's appeals.
The well-known German mass media outlet also refers to a campaign by Greek writer and director Apostolos Doxiadis to prevent the extradition.
Doxiadis, in fact, links the judicial process for the eight with the multi-party negotiations over the Cyprus problem, which will reconvene in Geneva this week.
"This isn't a conspiracy theory ... there's a very widespread view that Tsipras will assure Erdogan, on the day of the negotiations in Geneva, that he (Erdogan) will 'get back' his eight soldiers; it is obvious that there is political involvement in the judicial process," he warned.
Finally, well-known Greek defense attorney Alexandros Lykourezos, who at one point even advised Slobodan Milosevic in late 1990s, issued a lengthy statement in Athens this week emphasizing that a rejection of the extradition request "is not only an expression of justice, but primarily a mark of democracy."
He also decried the fact that the request by the eight Turks has been divided into three separate cases before the Supreme Court, i.e. 15 justices and three separate prosecutors.