Kotzias decries ‘unacceptable’ detention of Greek servicemen
Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias condemned once again the “unacceptable” detention of the two Greek servicemen who have been imprisoned in Turkey since early March, when they strayed into the country in bad weather, in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
“It’s unprecedented. The two soldiers have already been waiting for more than four months for the trial. They are supposedly suspected of espionage. Is it reasonable for spies to travel wearing uniforms? That’s nonsense!” he told the paper.
“Whatever they [the soldiers] saw there, 10 meters away from the border, you could also see it from the Greek side with binoculars,” he added.
The minister said Greece would never detain Turkish citizens for months without trial.
“One cannot play games with people's dignity and freedom. It’s unacceptable,” he said.
Asked whether Athens is willing to sign an agreement with Germany for the return of migrants to Greece – if the country is recorded as the first point of entry – Kotzias said the two countries are discussing a European solution to the problem.
He said some people want to provide as many people as possible the ability to create their future in a European country and others try to build walls.
“So far we have not found in the EU the balance between these two positions,” he said.
