Turkey threatens to scrap EU migration deal if Greece doesn’t hand Turkish soldiers

Greek court refuses to send back eight Turkish soldiers accused of coup-plotting [Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters]
BBC – Turkey has threatened to cancel a deal with the European Union on taking back migrants who cross over to Greece.

Turkish officials are unhappy about a decision by the Greek Supreme Court not to extradite a group of eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece after a failed coup in July.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu described the ruling as a “political decision” and demanded a retrial.

An EU spokeswoman said the body was confident the migrant deal would hold.

The three majors, three captains and two sergeant majors fled in a helicopter to Greece after last July’s coup attempt in Turkey.

They are accused of playing a significant part in the attempt, and of having links with a group which allegedly tried to assassinate President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the night of the attempted coup.

They say they were not involved and would fear for their lives if extradited home. The Greek court’s presiding judge ruled that the men were unlikely to receive a fair trial in Turkey.

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