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. Although a Greek court ruled that three of the officers could be extradited to Turkey, Greece's Supreme Court overruled that decision and denied the extradition of all eight soldiers. This was one of multiple similar incidents during the coup attempt.
2016
July
16 July
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey requested extradition of eight military personnel who had escaped to Greece and the return of the Turkish military helicopter that transported them. The Greek authorities responded stating that the helicopter would be returned as soon as possible. Regarding the passengers, they said, "we will follow the procedures of international law. 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." 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 request would be processed swiftly but that international law and human rights would be fully respected.
The lawyer assigned to four of the Turkish military officers said they were all medical crew in Istanbul, that they didn’t know about the coup, and that they had families and children in Turkey. She also added that the officers received orders on the evening of 15 July to transfer some injured people in their helicopters. They followed orders without knowing that a coup was under way. At some point, police opened fire against their helicopters. By that time, they were aware that a coup was under way and feared they would be executed as participants if they stayed in Turkey, so boarded a helicopter not damaged by police fire, and flew to Greece to request asylum. The lawyer also added that they were "in a bad mental state" because they were afraid for both their own and their families’ lives. They didn't believe that they would be given a fair trial in Turkey.
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 first helicopter, both helicopters returned to Turkey early on the morning of 17 July.
17 July
The eight Turkish soldiers appeared before a Greek prosecutor at Alexandroupoli on the morning of 17 July and were charged with entering the country illegally, jeopardizing Greek and Turkish relations, and illegal flight. Seven were charged with instigating the illegal flight while the eighth, who was piloting the helicopter, was accused of executing the illegal flight. Later, the charges regarding jeopardizing Greek and Turkish relations were dropped.
18 July
On 18 July, the Turkish soldiers appeared before a judge in Alexandroupoli. They arrived at the courthouse in civilian clothes with their faces covered. The court postponed the trial to 21 July 2016. Turkish officials who sat directly behind the Turkish soldiers in the courtroom threatened the soldiers until a Greek lawyer asked for them to be moved. 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."
Greek Deputy Defence Minister Dimitris Vitsas 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 was "very strong". The Turkish ambassador to Greece indicated that if the soldiers were not returned to Turkey, it would not help bilateral relations between the two countries. He added that "Greece should not given landing permission to Turkish helicopter, it should not have even allowed it to enter Greek FIR."
Greek lawyer Konstantinos Starantzis said: "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."