Ankara will no longer allow Greece to send back irregular migrants to Turkey, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu says, after Athens denied requests to extradite eight FETO-linked soldiers who took part in a 2016 coup attempt.
The private Doğan news agency quoted Çavuşoğlu on Thursday that the suspension of the readmission agreement is in response to Athens' decision to release a group of Turkish officers from Greek custody. Turkey accuses the soldiers of involvement in a failed coup in 2016 and has been seeking their extradition.
Çavuşoğlu was quoted as saying: "What Greece did is unacceptable... We have a bilateral agreement with Greece on readmission. We have now halted the agreement."
Earlier this week, a Greek court released the remaining four out of eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece following the failed coup on July 15, 2016.
The agreement, which allows migrants in Greece who are not granted asylum to be returned to Turkey, is part of a larger deal with the European Union that came into full force in 2016.
He said a separate refugee agreement with the European Union is still in place.
A readmission protocol between Greece and Turkey was signed in 2002 to combat illegal migration.
Çavuşoğlu said further action regarding Greece will be taken keeping in the mind recent court decisions.
In late May, the Greek Council of State granted asylum to ex-Turkish soldier Süleyman Özkaynakçı, who Ankara accuses of involvement in the coup bid.
In January, the Greek Supreme Court ruled against extraditing the former soldiers -- a move Turkey called "politically motivated".
Turkey has repeatedly called for the extradition of the suspected coup-plotters, including during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's official visit to Greece last December.
The soldiers arrived in Greece's Thrace region aboard a stolen military helicopter hours after the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left over 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
Ankara accused Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and is U.S.-based leader of orchestrating the coup attempt.
