The eight, identified as two majors, four captains and two master sergeants, were being tried in the northern city of Alexandroupolis, where they arrived by military helicopter on July 16 after sending a distress signal to authorities.
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Çavuşoğlu said that Turkey has requested the extradition of the soldiers who escaped to Greece, while Greek authorities said they are ready to cooperate with Turkey and will do what is necessary.
To block their deportation to Turkey, they have applied for asylum in Greece.
The ruling came during a hearing held for the soldiers who fled to Greece in the wake of an attempted coup in Turkey on July 15.
They told the court they wouldn’t have abandoned their families in Turkey if it hadn’t been an emergency.
“We apologize for the inconvenience caused to the Greek state but we acted without having any alternative”, the eight defendants said in a joint statement read out by their lawyer.
“We saw indiscriminate arrests of military personnel and we were afraid”, the suspect said. “We proudly serve in our country’s armed forces and are committed to democracy and human rights”.
Greek officials say they have to let their politically-independent judicial system weigh the claims. The countries, both North Atlantic Treaty Organization members, have longstanding tensions over territorial disputes.
During Thursday’s trial outside the courthouse a small group of local Greek Muslims were demonstrating against the “traitors” and in favor of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkish leaders have refused to rule out changing the constitution to reinstate the death penalty, as demanded by many in the crowds that attended funerals and rallies in the days after the coup. They will re-appear on July 26 for further interviews, and will stand trial tomorrow on charges of illegal entry into Greece. This process is expected to last at least until August 2, according to Greek officials.
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“In any case, they entered Greece officially, meaning they landed officially at the airport, they disembarked and immediately requested political asylum”. Greece says it will examine their asylum requests quickly.
