Greek court rules to extradite 3 of 8 Turkish servicemen

He called the prosecutor's decision to appeal Monday's unanimous ruling for the other three equally unacceptable.

All eight soldiers deny involvement in the attempt to dislodge Erdogan from power.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mouloud Jawish Ihsanoglu said that he has demanded the Greek government immediately extradite the eight Turkish servicemen.

The three pilots affected by Tuesday's ruling said they would appeal the decision, maintaining that they will not receive a fair trial in Turkey, where tens of thousands of people have been detained since the coup, including top generals.

The court is expected to decide the fate of the remaining two servicemen on Thursday.

The decision of the Greek Court to not extradite three of the eight Turkish soldiers who are accused of participating in the July abortive coup in Turkey has generated concern in Ankara.

The three are to appeal, and are being held in custody until then.

The Appeals Court ruled that the three soldiers should be returned to Turkey to stand trial for three of the four crimes it accuses them of - attempting to abrogate the constitution, attempting to dissolve parliament, and seizing a helicopter using violent means - but not for attempting to assassinate Erdoğan, the officials said.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation chief Jens Stoltenberg last month said an unspecified number of Turkish officers serving in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation command positions had requested asylum in those alliance member states following the botched coup on July 15.

The servicemen landed in the northern Greek city of Alexandroupoli a day after the coup and sought asylum but their request was rejected by Greek authorities in September. Turkish Prime Minister Yildirim reportedly said that the Turkish military was involved in an attempted coup d'etat.

The court of cassation's ruling raised to six the number of Turkish soldiers to be extradited to Turkey.

It said the soldiers planned to appeal before the supreme court in Greece.

He attributed the difference between the court's rulings a day apart to the Turkish government's reaction to the Monday ruling. "What bothers me greatly is that it is not grounded in law".