July 2016 Turkish military asylum incident in Greece

During the failed 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt on 15 July 2016, eight Turkish military personnel claimed asylum in Greece. The Turkish servicemen arrived in Greece on board a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. This was one of multiple similar incidents.

Asylum request

16 July

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey has requested extradition of eight military personnel who had escaped to Greece; and the return of the Turkish helicopter that transported the soldiers into Greece.^[1][2][3] The Greek authorities responded and stated that the Turkish military helicopter would be returned as soon as possible. Regarding the passengers, they said, "we will follow the procedures of international law.^[4] However, we give very serious considerations to the fact that they are accused, in their country, of violating the constitutional order and trying to overthrow democracy."^[5] The Turkish Foreign Minister made a statement, posted on Twitter, that the soldiers who landed in Greece, claiming asylum, would be extradited. A Greek government source denied this, saying the asylum process would be processed swiftly but international law and human rights would be fully respected.^[6][7]

The lawyer assigned to four of the Turkish military officers said they were all medical crew in Istanbul and that they didn’t know about the coup and that they all have families and children in Turkey. She also added that the officers received orders on the evening of 15 July to transfer some injured people with their helicopters. They followed orders without knowing that a coup was under way. At some point, police opened fire against their helicopters. By that point they were aware a coup was under way and feared they would be executed as participants if they stayed in Turkey, so they decided to board a helicopter not damaged by police fire and fly to Greece to request asylum.^[8] The lawyer also added that they were "in a bad mental state" because they were afraid for both their own and their families’ lives.^[9] In addition, they don't believe that they will be given a fair trial in Turkey.^[10]

At night, after 11:00 p.m. (EEST), a second Turkish Black Hawk helicopter with extra crew members arrived at the Greek airport from Turkey in order to retrieve the first helicopter, after the crew checked the helicopter, both helicopters returned to Turkey early on the morning of 17 July.^[11][12]

17 July

The eight Turkish soldiers appeared before a Greek prosecutor at Alexandroupoli on the morning of 17 July and were charged with illegal entry into the country, jeopardizing Greek and Turkish relations and for illegal flight.^{[8][13][14] [15]} Seven were charged with instigating the illegal flight, while the eighth, who was piloting the helicopter, was accused of executing the illegal flight.^[7] Later, the charges regarding jeopardizing Greek and Turkish relations were removed.^[16][17] Due to the fact that they had removed the badges and insignia from their uniforms, the initial reports were contradictory regarding their ranks, later it turned out they were officers and non-commissioned officers, Turkish army cadres, and specifically serving in a helicopter unit of the Turkish land army.^[18]

18 July

On 18 July, they appeared before a judge in Alexandroupoli. They were in civilian clothes as they were brought to the courthouse and their faces were covered. The court has postponed the trial to 21 July 2016. The atmosphere in court was tense, Turkish officials who sat directly behind the Turkish soldiers in the courtroom threatened them until a Greek lawyer asked them to be moved away. Their lawyer said that: "My clients told me that in the court were people from Turkey, and they said bad words against them. Someone who speaks Turkish told me they called them 'dogs, traitors, we will kill you'. Something like that."^[19]

Greek Deputy Defence Minister Dimitris Vitsas has noted that the group's asylum applications were being processed and a decision would be made by the Greek courts. Although the applications would be examined under both "Greek and international law", the argument for extradition is "very strong".^[20]

The Turkish ambassador to Greece, has told that if the soldiers are not returned to Turkey, this would not help bilateral relations between the two countries.^[21] He, also, added that "Greece should not given landing permission to Turkish helicopter, it should not have even allowed it to enter Greek FIR."^[22]

In a Greek lawyer′s view, the situation was "complicated" under Greek and international law: "I suspect that the Greek authorities want a clean and immediate extradition procedure. However, there are strong legal arguments to oppose such a thing. We have to consider the safety of their lives. That is the first argument when granting asylum. They can't be extradited if there is the suspicion of a political or a military prosecution against them – and harsh penalties."^[19]

19 July

On the night of July 19, the officers have been transferred from Alexandroupoli to Kavala for their own safety.^[23]

21 July

On 21, July, the Greek court sentenced the 8 officers to two months in prison for illegally entering Greece and they were acquitted of violating flight regulations. They were found not guilty of illegally flying over Greece because according to the Greek law the accusation of illegal flight over Greece doesn't concern military planes and helicopters since they are not obligated to submit a flight plan. The court recognized the mitigating circumstances that the men faced, having acted while under great threat. The sentences were suspended for three years, but they remained in police custody pending resolution of their asylum applications. A Greek policeman who testified said that the helicopter and all eight were unarmed, they were also cooperative after landing, offered no resistance to arrest, surrendered immediately and asked for political asylum. During the trial there were 6 Turkish lawyers, one of them threatened the 8 officers resulting the immediate intervention of the Greek police who told him to leave the court.^{[18][24][25][26][27][28]}

In answer to a series of questions directed from the sole judge presiding over the case, the eight – pilots and flight engineers – claimed they were ordered by phone to report to their Istanbul-area unit on Friday (July 15) evening in order to pick up injured, without however, being informed on how the soldiers were injured. They also claimed that only one of the three helicopters they commanded was able to fully execute the order, given that the violence already taking place on the metropolis’ streets prevented the other two aircraft from evacuating any injured party. In fact, they said the other two helicopters came under fire. In the end, the crews of all three helicopters, which they emphasized are used exclusively as flying ambulances and transports, piled into one of the three aircraft and eventually made for the nearest airport on the Greek side of the border after several hours. Before deciding to flee Turkey, they said they first landed at a base that includes a military hospital near Istanbul, remaining until before dawn and again taking off after shots were fired. The last stop before Alexadroupolis was a brief stopover in a wooded area near the city, where they found out about the coup through the Internet. All eight said they were concerned about the safety after watching officers and servicemen being roughed up by mobs on the streets of Istanbul, regardless of whether they were involved or not in the coup attempt.^[18]

22 July

On the morning of July, 22, the officers transferred for safety reasons to Athens. Their lawyers said they were not informed by anyone about the transfer and the police director of Kavala informed them at noon.^[29]

27 July

On July, 27, the 8 officers requested and received postponement in order to be better prepared. The interviews for the first two were set for 19, 23, 24 and 25 August.^{[30] [31]}

10 August

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office sent an extradition request to the Justice Ministry to be sent to Greek authorities for the eight suspected coup plotting servicemen.^[32]

19 August

One of the Turkish servicemen, Captain Feridun Çoban, appeared before a Greek asylum committee.^[33][34][35]

29 August

In an interview with the Asylum Commission in Athens, the first three soldiers said they had verbally sought asylum also in France, Spain and Belgium in order to avoid extradition to Turkey.^[36]

21 September

Greece’s political asylum commission rejected the asylum application of three of the eight soldiers. The application of one of the soldiers was rejected on the grounds of evidence that he participated in the coup attempt, while the other two soldiers refused to cooperate with the Greek authorities. Their lawyer told that they will appeal the decision. The other five soldiers will be re-interviewed by the asylum commission in Athens.^[37]

11 October

First-instance board of Greece’s political asylum commission rejected the asylum application of another four of eight coup-plotting soldiers. Their lawyer said that the soldiers believed the decision was guided by political expediency and also that they fear for their lives if are returned to Turkey. “We came to Greece to save our lives, not be pawns of foreign policy and bilateral agreements. We have not been labeled terrorists even in our own country,” their statement said.^[38][39]

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