Greece's plans to commute prison sentences to house arrests for some convicts drew the ire of Turkey as Savvos Xiros, a member of terrorist organization November 17, may also benefit from the plans.

November 17, founded in the 1970s, is blamed for the killings of Turkish diplomats Çetin Görgü and Haluk Sipahioğlu in 1991 and 1994, respectively, and a car bomb attack that injured Turkish Charge D'affaires Deniz Bölükbaşı in 1991.

The Greek parliament approved a draft bill to decrease the number of convicts in the country's overcrowded prisons and Xiros, a senior figure of the terrorist organization is expected to benefit from the bill by having his sentence to be commuted to house arrest as Greek media speculated.

Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tanju Bilgiç said yesterday that the Foreign Ministry viewed attempts to have November 17 members benefit from the bill as "weakness in counterterrorism efforts and a serious violation of rights of victims of terror attacks."