Two Turkish asylum seekers fell with a glider in the sea near Karystos on the island of Euboea in Central Greece on Saturday.
At the time of writing, the two men were being held at the Karystos Coast Guard station.
Following their rescue from the glider fall, they were admitted to a hospital by the Hellenic Coast Guard authorities where they underwent the necessary medical checks and were found to be in good health.
They reportedly told Coast Guards that they were Turkish policemen intending to seek asylum in Greece.
The Hellenic Police was also called to the scene to investigate further.
Turkish asylum seekers in Greece
This is not the first time that Turkish dissidents seek asylum in Greece after the Gülen movement was accused by the Turkish government of a failed coup attempt in 2016.
An estimated 100,000 alleged Gülen movement members were jailed or dismissed from their jobs in state institutions since the government declared a state of emergency following the coup attempt.
Thereafter, thousands of members of the group have sought refuge in other countries, particularly in Greece, to avoid prosecution.
In the most recent incident, in January 2021, seven Turkish dissidents sailed to the Greek island of Crete, where they reportedly applied for political asylum following their arrival.
Furthermore, n November 2020, dozens of people who claimed to be dissidents of the Erdogan regime sailed to the Greek port of Katakolo on the Peloponnese. Twenty of these individuals identified themselves as Turkish police officers.
The 8 Turkish military asylum incident in Greece
The most publicized incident of this kind occurred in July 2016 soon after the alleged coup attempt when eight Turkish military personnel arrived in Greece on board a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, claiming asylum.
Although a Greek court ruled that three of the officers could be extradited to Turkey, Greece’s Supreme Court overruled that decision and denied the extradition of all eight soldiers in 2018.
This was one of multiple similar incidents during the coup attempt.
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