Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos again referred to the continued incarceration of two Greek servicemen in a Turkish prison, some two and a half months after the pair allegedly strayed into Turkish territory along a poorly demarcated spot on the land frontier separating the two countries.
Speaking from the northeastern prefecture of Evros on Monday, the region that borders with European Turkey and which includes the exact location where the incident occurred, Pavlopoulos called the incarceration "unacceptable and undemocratic".
In touching on the fact that no specific charges have been filed in an indictment and with no first instance court date set, Pavlopoulos cited what he called a violation of the rule of law.
The Greek president, whose head of state post is ceremonial, was in the border city of Alexandroupolis on the occasion of the 98th anniversary of the area's liberation. Main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis was also in the city for the anniversary.
In a related development, veteran Greek lawmaker and ND MEP Manolis Kefaloyannis on Monday travelled to the European Turkey border city of Edirne to visit the two Greek servicemen, an army lieutenant and NCO.
Kefaloyannis, a former minister and Parliament deputy, is the chairman of a joint EU-Turkey parliamentary committee.
