Newsroom
Alternate Defense Minister Fotis Kouvelis expressed uncertainty Thursday about the release of the two Greek soldiers who have been detained after accidentally crossing into Turkey in early March.
Two days after a Turkish court ruled to keep the two soldiers in custody, Kouvelis told Skai radio that he was not in a position to predict when the pair would be released.
In the same interview, the leftist minister said that similar incidents were in the past resolved “with a simple telephone call,” adding that the soldiers’ continued detention was a politically-motivated decision by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“Erdogan is using [the incident] to sustain a certain level of tension with [Greece],” Kouvelis said.
The two soldiers have not yet been indicted.
![[Turkish Defense Ministry via AP]](assets/modules/wnp/articles/202411/22073/images/s_turkey_warship.jpg)
