Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Bekir Bozdag denied rumours on Easter Sunday that the two Greek soldiers being held in a Turkish maximum security prison in Adrianople would be used as leverage for an exchange with 8 Turkish servicemen in Greece who had fled Turkey during the 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey. It is the first time a Turkish politician has publicly and clearly denied this scenario which was floated and wanted

This is the first time that a Turkish official has clearly stated – and refuted the scenario that wants the second lieutenant Mitredtodis and Sergeant Kouklatzis would be exchanged with the 8 Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece a day after the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016 and are in the process of receiving political asylum by the Greek authorities.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had indirectly made reference to such a scenario linking the fate of the two Greek soldiers with the case of the 8 Turkish servicemen on two occasions on March 28 and April 1.