Greece suspends asylum to former Turkish soldier

An Athens administrative court has accepted the Greek government's appeal to temporarily suspend the granting of asylum to one of eight Turkish officers who fled to Greece on a military helicopter after the July 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey.

An appeals court in Athens upheld a request by the Greek government to freeze the asylum status granted by an independent asylum council on December 29. The same council had rejected asylum requests filed by the seven other former soldiers.

The court said it was granting the order 'for reasons of public interest' until a formal court hearing is scheduled against the asylum board's decision on February 15.

The eight men—three majors, three captains and two sergeant majors— fled to Greece by helicopter on July 16, 2016.

Turkey regards the soldiers as traitors and has accused Athens of harbouring putschists. Greece denies the accusations and says justice is independent.

At least 249 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured as Turkish people took to the streets and fought against armed soldiers, tanks, helicopters and F-16 fighter jets to stop the coup attempt by a faction of the military.

Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO) which led by Fetullah Gulen were responsible for the coup attempt. Gulen is living in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999.

FETO is also accused of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.