Former Greek PM says failed 2016 coup incident messed up ties

(MENAFN) Former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras argued in his recently published memoir, Ithaki, that the failed July 15, 2016 coup in Türkiye, carried out by the FETO terrorist organization, blocked the development of stronger Greek-Turkish ties. The book, which reflects on his tenure from 2015 to 2019, includes a chapter on Greece’s foreign affairs, in which Tsipras emphasizes that relations with Türkiye had been progressing positively before the coup attempt.

Tsipras noted that he had visited Türkiye three times in the seven months leading up to the coup, suggesting that “if the coup didn’t intervene, the 4th High-Level Cooperation Council (YDIK) meeting held in Izmir in March 2016 could have been an important turning point in Turkish-Greek relations.” He recalled being on vacation when informed of the coup, adding that he was among the first world leaders to call Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to express support against the attempted overthrow.

The memoir also addresses the hijacking of a Turkish military helicopter by eight FETO members to Greece’s northern port city of Alexandroupolis on July 16, 2016. Tsipras explained that Greece was bound by international law to provide asylum to the fugitives. Discussing his phone call with Erdogan, during which extradition was requested, he stated, “I told him coup plotters are not welcome in Greece, but the Greek judiciary will make the final decision on their case.”

According to Tsipras, the matter of the eight fugitives remained a persistent source of tension in Greek-Turkish relations for at least two years following the incident.

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