The eight are being tried in the northern city of Alexandroupoli, where they arrived by military helicopter on Saturday after sending a distress signal to authorities. The Greek court sentenced the officers to suspended two-month prison terms for illegally entering country.
TV stations from Turkey crossed the borders to cover the events. Pro Erdogan supporters, most likely Greek citizens of Turkish descent, also protested outside the court house. One woman unfolded a Turkish flag but others were fast to cover her.
According to one of their lawyers, Ilia Marinaki, the soldiers – two commanders, four captains and two sergeants – fear for their safety and that of their families after the abortive bid to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
To block their deportation to Turkey, they have also applied for asylum in Greece. Regardless of the court’s decision, asylum authorities will decide on their applications likely until early August. The interviews with the eight military in order for the agency to decide on whether to grant them asylum or not will begin on July 27.
Turkish authorities on the other hand insist the eight military officers will receive fair treatment at home, despite Erdogan's government crackdown. Turkey's ambassador to Greece has already warned that failure to return the officers “will not help” ties.
“I hope we will manage to swiftly go through the phases of due process and manage to return these terrorist elements so that they will face justice” Turkish ambassador Kerim Uras told reporters in Athens on Tuesday.
One of the lawyers of the accused, Ms. Marinaki, denied reports that they threw away their weapons before landing in Greece, saying that from the beginning did not carry weapons. She did however confirm that they had ripped and thrown into the sea helicopter equipment containing coordinates and military maps, so that Greek authorities would not have access to them.
Both Greece and Turkey are NATO member states since 1952 but very often face challenges in bilateral relations.