Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Saturday slammed Greece's refusal to cooperate with Turkey on the extradition of eight former soldiers allegedly involved in the July 15 failed coup attempt, which left at least 248 people killed and some 2,200 injured, saying that Greece's poor record in the fight against terror is getting worse.
"Greece is preventing traitors from being prosecuted for their crimes, which is not in line with good-neighborly, friendly relations," Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told Anadolu Agency (AA).
He said that Greece's record on the fight against terrorism is very poor and is gradually getting worse.
The number of Turkish citizens who have illegally entered Greece since the July 15 failed coup now stands at 100, including the eight Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ)-linked ex-soldiers who fled Turkey in a stolen helicopter, hours after the coup bid, and requested asylum.
Ankara has repeatedly requested that the eight men be extradited, promising that they would receive fair trials in Turkey. On Jan. 26, the Greek Supreme Court ruled against their extradition. "Unfortunately this attitude is no surprise to us. The PKK's leader, who is now in prison, was hidden by Greece too," Çavuşoğlu added, referring to the terrorist group's leader, Abdullah Öcalan, who was arrested and jailed in 1999.
Çavuşoğlu also criticized his Greek counterpart for recent comments on the controversial Kardak islets.
In response to Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias's remarks that the Turkish "chief of General Staff couldn't set foot on the Kardak [islets] even if he wanted to," Çavuşoğlu said: "If his duty was to do so, he would have done it. Let's not forget that we set foot in places we were supposed to. Our stance on Kardak is clear."
The uninhabited Aegean islets of Kardak (Imia) brought Turkey and Greece to the brink of armed conflict in 1996 and led to renewed tensions this year.
On Jan. 29, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar visited the islets. His arrival coincided with the anniversary of the deaths of three Greek soldiers who died when their helicopter crashed during a reconnaissance mission in January, 1996, at the height of the military crisis between Turkey and Greece, triggered when a Turkish vessel washed up on the islets on Dec. 25, 1995.
The Greek military sent a soldier to erect the Greek flag on an islet in the east, resulting in the deployment of troops from both countries around the islets. Tensions were defused when then-U.S. President Bill Clinton, American delegates and then-NATO undersecretary spoke with both sides to normalize relations.
The two countries also have contentious relations on issues as territorial waters in the Aegean Sea, the Cyprus question and the status of Turks in Western Thrace and Greeks in Istanbul, along with the status of Phanar Greek Patriarchate.