Ankara slams Greece for granting 2 Turkish officers asylum

Turkey has hit back at a Greek court’s decision to grant political refugee status to two Turkish officers who fled to Greece after a 2016 failed coup, AFP said. Eight Turkish officers escaped to neighboring Greece after the July 2016 military coup. Turkey says they should be extradited because they are “terrorists.” The requests were rejected by the Greek Supreme Court, stoking tensions between Ankara and Athens. On Thursday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Greece “protects and shelters putschists.” Turkish EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik said the Greek legal system has “ruled to protect the terrorists who attempted a coup to overthrow Turkish democracy.” Greece’s top administrative court, the Council of State, made the decision to grant asylum on Wednesday after rejecting an appeal lodged by the Greek government.