Greece Refuses to Extradite 50 Turkish Citizens Accused of Terrorism

In the last decade Athens rejected Ankara's calls to extradite 50 Turkish citizens accused of terrorism in Turkey, according to local media reports.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Over the past 10 years Greece has continually refused to extradite 50 Turkish citizens accused in Turkey of being members of recognized terrorist organizations, Turkish media reported on Sunday.

A total of 24 people are said to be members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), eight of the so-called Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), six of the Revolutionary Left (DEV-SOL), one of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, one of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and others of other groups, the Yeni Safak media outlet reported.

On Thursday, the Greek Supreme Court ruled against the extradition of eight soldiers, who had flown to Greece by helicopter on July 16 after a thwarted coup in Turkey and asked for political asylum, saying that a fair trial cannot be expected in Turkey. According to the court ruling, the Turkish servicemen have permission to travel freely within the Greek borders.

A day later, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that, following the Greek Supreme Court's decision, Ankara might withdraw from the bilateral treaty with Greece on readmission of undocumented migrants.

*An earlier version of this article inaccurately reflected the extradition request's time span.