ISTANBUL, March 5 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish court on Monday dismissed a request for the release of two Greek soldiers, ruling for their continuing custody for crossing into Turkey, Turkish media said.
The court in the northwestern province of Edirne rejected the appeal by lawyers of Lt. Aggelos Mitretodis and Sgt. Dimitros Kouklatzis, who claimed that they lost their way on Friday due to bad weather and crossed the border inadvertently into Edirne, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Citing security sources, Anadolu said the Greek soldiers face charges of espionage and sending records on their phones to their superiors.
Despite being NATO allies, Turkey and Greece have a relationship strained, among others, over disputes in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas over islets and gas drilling rights respectively and over Greece's refusal to extradite eight Turkish soldiers suspected of involvement in a coup bid in 2016.
