by Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras welcomed on Tuesday the release from Turkey of two Greek servicemen who were held since early March in the neighboring country as a positive step for bilateral ties.
"The release of the two Greek servicemen from jail is an act of justice which will contribute in boosting friendship, good neighborly ties and stability in the region," the Greek leader said in an e-mailed statement.
The two servicemen Angelos Mitretodis and Dimitris Kouklatzis had been detained in Edirne in Turkey after accidently crossing the border amid bad weather conditions.
From the first moment the two men allegedly insisted that this was not a case of attempted espionage, while the case had further soured relations between Athens and Ankara.
A Turkish court ruled on Tuesday that there were no reasons to detain them longer and that they should be released from jail until their trial on charges of illegally entering a military zone, Greek national news agency AMNA reported, citing Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency. Greek authorities were making arrangements for their imminent return to Greece.
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 and over Greece's refusal to extradite eight Turkish soldiers suspected of involvement in the coup bid in Turkey in July 2016.
