Turkish court rejects third request for release of Greek army officers, no charges

A Turkish court has rejected the latest appeal of two Greek officers imprisoned in a top security prison in the city of Edirne for their release from jail pending trial.

Hence, the officers will remain in prison until further notice, without formal charges having been filed against them during their month-long incarceration.

The officers’ attorneys appealed the first decision of the competent court, which ruled that the two Greek officers must remain in jail because they did not have a permanent residence in Turkey and pose a flight risk.

The 1st local Lower Court of Edirne, to which the attorneys appealed this time around, judged that it is not competent to rule on the appeal, as the 2nd Lower Court of Edirne had already delivered a ruling, so the new appeal was sent back to the 1st Lower Court.

The 2nd Lower Court of Edirne examined the case immediately and rejected the appeal with the same rationale as the first time, two days ago. That ruling said that the two officers will remain in prison pending the filing of charges, so that the judge can set a court date for a hearing.

This is the third request of the officers to be released from prison pending trial that has been rejected.

These developments have dashed hopes for a softening of Turkey’s stance, after the stern EU rebuke on this case and other issues.