Erdogan says he agreed with Tsipras to show good will
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Turkish journalists after his meeting on Thursday with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that they agreed to make good-willed efforts to resolve the issues concerning the two Greek soldiers who have been held in Turkey since March after inadvertently crossing the border and the eight Turkish servicemen that Ankara wants extradited from Greece.
“Everyone knows our determination to fight the Gulenists. Mr Tsipras knows it too. I explained to him our insistence on the release of the eight putschists that escaped to Greece,” Erdogan told journalists according to Skai TV, adding, however, that Tsipras, for his part, is also insisting on the issue of the two Greek soldiers “who violated the border in Edirne.”
It was noted in Greece that he only referred to a violation of the border.
“In order to sort out these issues, we agreed to make an effort in good faith,” he said.
Erdogan and Turkish authorities hold the self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen responsible for organizing the July 2016 coup and accuse the eight soldiers of taking part.
