By G. Kampourakis
[email protected]
This week's release of two Greek servicemen held in Turkey since early March 2018 offered a welcome respite for the foundering Tsipras coalition government, which was reeling from a deadly wildfire late last month in eastern Attica prefecture that has claimed 95 victims so far.
The auspicious development generated high-profile reactions by practically half the Cabinet and served to - momentarily - shift public attention in an always sluggish August "news hole" from the devastating Mati settlement wildfire and pending austerity measures come Jan. 1, 2019.
The continuously poll-trailing leftist-rightist coalition government released video footage taken from inside a state executive jet carrying the two servicemen from the western Turkish border city of Edirne to Thessaloniki - and with a smiling alternate foreign minister featured prominently next to the pair.
The first exchanges between the men's parents with the Greek prime minister and president were also leaked to the press, whereas the country's controversial defense minister, Panos Kammenos - who leads the small right-wing junior coalition partner - took to Twitter to post icons of the Virgin Mary.
2nd Lt. Angelos Mitretodis and Sgt. Dimitris Kouklatzis returned to Greece on Wednesday, which coincided with a major religious holiday in the predominately Eastern Orthodox nation, i.e. the Dormition of the Holy Virgin feast day, ostensibly the reason for Kammenos' reference to faith.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' office even circulated a "non paper" describing the "framework and actions" that led to the release of the pair by a Turkish first instance court judge in Edirne. The text aimed to convey the development as the result of a methodical, patient and continuous policy by the SYRIZA-AN.EL coalition.
Pro-government media and the state television broadcaster also prominently featured a US State Department reaction to the pair's release, as well as kudos offered by EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
Mitretodis and Kouklatzis allegedly strayed into Turkish territory through a poorly demarcated spot on the land border between the two countries in the northeast Thrace region, essentially a "bulge" that extends west of the Evros (Meric) River, and across from the city of Edirne. The specific site is near the village of Kastanies, on the Greek side of the frontier.
The two servicemen were held in an Edirne jail without official charges ever being filed or even a court date being set.
Previous instances of military personnel from either country inadvertently straying into the other's territory along the land border separating the two NATO member-states were always resolved in a matter of hours and between local commanders.
Widespread speculation focused on whether Ankara was holding the two men as "bargaining chips" in order to pressure Athens to ignore independent high court rulings and hand over eight Turkish officers and NCOs that fled Turkey in the wake of a July 2016 coup. The eight Turks sought and were subsequently granted political asylum in Greece, as court and independent asylum tribunal decisions were in their favor, despite opposition by the leftist-rightist Greek coalition government.
