Satuk Bugra Kutlugun
December 07, 2016•Update: December 08, 2016
BRUSSELS, Belgium
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey expects all of the alleged coup plotter soldiers, who fled to Greece, "should be extradited."Answering journalists' questions Wednesday, Cavusoglu said it is "meaningful" that three of eight soldiers ruled to be extradited to Turkey, but three others rejected.
"Why did it happen like that? We need to see the reason behind it. We are closely following the issue. Our expectation is that all of them would be extradited [to Turkey]."
A Greek court has ruled on Tuesday to extradite three alleged Turkish coup plotters seeking asylum in the country.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Prosecutor of the Greek Appeals Court also objected to the decision on the non-extradition of three other Turkish soldiers.The High Court of Greece will evaluate the objection and announce its decision latest in eight days.
The soldiers are suspected of being involved in the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey.Two remaining soldiers still await the court's decision.
Cyprus negotiations
When asked to evaluate the latest on the Cyprus issue, Cavusoglu said there "needs to be a process that will be resolved within a schedule.""Turkey always supported the process and continues to do so. No country supported the negotiations stronger than us.
This includes the guarantor countries as well," he said. Cavusoglu said the negotiations "cannot be held open-ended" and "no solution will come out of it." The territorial issue is one of the most intractable one over 40 years since the Mediterranean island has been divided.
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Mustafa Akinci held meetings with European Parliament Chairman Martin Schulz and EU Foreign Affairs chief Federica Mogherini on Tuesday.Akinci is expected to meet with EU Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday.
Meeting with Timmermans
Cavusoglu also mentioned he met with Frans Timmermans, the First-Vice President of the EU Commission, as well as the EU commissioner for migration and home affairs, Dimitris Avramopoulos.
"We talked about Turkey's deal with EU on refugees and visa-free travel process," he said. "We discussed the financial support, the things that EU needs to do."
"The EU countries underestimated Turkey because of many reasons such as domestic politics, populism, xenophobia and anti-Islamic attitudes. However, a good example has twice the value of good advice. Now, they have a more positive attitude since recent developments," Cavusoglu said.
On Nov. 29, 2015, Turkey and the EU adopted a joint action plan, in which €3 billion were allocated for Syrian refugees in Turkey.
On March 18, 2016, Turkey and the EU signed a deal, which aims to discourage irregular migration through the Aegean Sea by taking stricter measures against human traffickers and improving conditions of nearly 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.
According to an EU statement that was published on June 15, 2016, the EU would, in close cooperation with Turkey, "further speed up the disbursement of the initially allocated €3 billion under the Facility for Refugees in Turkey."
"Once these resources are about to be used in full, the EU will mobilize additional funding for the Facility up to an additional €3 billion to the end of 2018," the statement added.
