Turkey to send official indictment against 8 defectors to Greece

Two Turkish Embassy officials go missing

According to CNN Turk, Turkish authorities are putting pressure on Greece for the immediate extradition of the 8 Turkish military officers who had fled to Greece and requested political asylum after the failed military coup in Turkey in mid-July. As the Turkish media outlet reports, the Constantinople prosecutor has prepared an extradition warrant and a damning indictment against the 8 men who are charged with involvement to overthrow the Erdogan government. The extradition warrant has been sent to the Turkish Justice Ministry, which in turn is expected to relay the request to the Greek Justice Ministry with a request it be executed immediately. The 8 Turkish officers have received two deferments for trial hearing in oder to have their asylum applications reviewed. The examination of their asylum applications is scheduled to take place on August 19 by the Asylum Committee. Meanwhile, two Turkish officials stationed at the Turkish Embassy in Athens seem to have ‘disappeared’, fearing they could be recalled back to Ankara as sympathisers of the pro-coup movement. According to Greek newspaper Eleftheros Typos, the whereabouts of the two officials, the head of the military attache and a navy attache to the Embassy is unknown. The report states that the two men are still in Greece and could follow in the footsteps of the 8 defectors and also ask for political asylum to the Greek state. Turkish authorities informed the Greek Foreign Ministry of their decision to cancel their diplomatic passports as of August 7, the day the two men went missing.