Anti-terrorism Operation in Turkey, 9 Arrested

Nine Turkish citizens, suspected of belonging to extremist or Kurdish organisations, according to first police information, were arrested today during an antiterrorist operation in three apartments near the centre of Athens.

The five men and one woman, Turkish citizens, were detained today by anti-terrorism services”, police stressed in a communiqué, underlining that an investigation is under way.

“Controls were carried out this morning in an apartment in Pangrati and in two other apartments in Neos Kosmos, neighborhood about three kilometers from the centre of the Greek capital”, according to a police source.

This raid took place 10 days before the president's official visit to Athens, Recep Tayip Erdogan, predicted on 7-8 December.

For decades, numerous members of Kurdish organisations have been sheltered in Greece, which has delicate relations with Turkey, a neighbouring country, due to historic territorial claims.

In addition to territorial disputes, bilateral relations of the two neighbouring countries have another tension since the failed coup in July 2016 in Turkey, as many Turkish officers sought asylum in Greece, as well as in other European countries, to escape arrests by Erdogan's government.

An Ankara request for the extradition of eight Turkish officers -- arrived in Greece, following the failed coup in the state -- was rejected in January by Greek justice.