The building of Turkish general staff is seen in Ankara, Turkey, July 17, 2016. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Saturday that at least 161 people, including 20 coup plotters, were killed and 1,440 others wounded in the coup attempt that swept mostly Istanbul and Ankara, the national capital. According to the Interior Ministry, at least 1,563 army personnel were detained across Turkey. The commanders of air staff, naval staff and the second chief of general staff were saved from the Akinci Base on Saturday. (Xinhua/Zou Le)
by Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, July 17 (Xinhua) -- The eight Turkish military officers who landed a Turkish military helicopter in Alexandroupolis in northern Greece on Saturday, requesting political asylum in Greece, fear for their safety, one of their Greek lawyers told Xinhua on Sunday.
The eight men were brought before a prosecutor on Sunday and will appear in a local court on Monday on charges of illegally entering Greece.
"They are terrified. They fear for their safety. They are afraid they will be maltreated if returned to Turkey. They are determined to exhaust all possibilities to avoid extradition," Lia Marinaki, a local lawyer who represents four of the eight officers told Xinhua during a telephone interview.
The Turkish officers reached Alexandroupolis in the wake of Friday's failed military coup, issuing a distress call and requesting a permission for emergency landing.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglou has requested their extradition during phone contacts with his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias on Saturday, calling them publicly "traitors."
Marinaki told Xinhua on Sunday that her clients, who are detained at the local police precinct, as well as the rest of the defendants, are denying any involvement in the coup attempt.
"They had no idea about it for several hours. They were executing orders of their superiors. They were told to transfer injured people. They realized something was wrong when they came under fire by police officers," she said.
They hid for hours near the borders with Greece and after receiving messages in their mobiles from relatives about the coup and the attacks on military officers by crowds, they decided to flee to Greece, they told Marinaki.
Alexandroupolis is located at about 40 km west of the borders with Turkey.
Law experts estimate that the procedure in Greece will last at least two weeks.
Marinaki told Xinhua that in case Greece rejects the asylum requests, her clients will submit a claim to other countries.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during his phone contact with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday night stressed that Greece will fully respect all provisions of the international law and conventions on the protection of human rights.
In their statements since Saturday, Greek cabinet ministers have also noted that Greece will take into serious consideration the fact that the eight men are facing serious charges of attempting to undermine democracy in their country.
