Kastanies

Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis expressed his dismay at the continued detention of two Greek servicemen who were arrested in early March for straying into Turkish territory during a border patrol, citing the lawful response of Greek authorities to similar cases involving three Turkish nationals.

A 38-year-old Turkish man who was arrested last week at Greece's northeastern border was deported to Turkey on Saturday.

The man, a municipal employee in the Turkish border town of Edirne, was carrying out construction work when he was apprehended last Wednesday on the Greek side of the border near the village of Kastanies and charged with illegal entry.

A Turkish national who was detained at the border crossing of Kastanies on Wednesday has told Greek Police that he had been installing irrigation pipes at the time of his arrest.

According to the man's testimony, he strayed over the border by mistake as it was his first time in the area and he was not familiar with it.

A Turkish national arrested by Greek police and army officers on Wednesday afternoon at the northeastern border village of Kastanies, after crossing into Greek territory, was charged with illegal entry into the country.

A Turkish man was arrested by Greek police and army officers on Wednesday afternoon at the northeastern border village of Kastanies, after crossing into Greek territory.

The man is an employee at the municipality of Edirne who was carrying out construction work near the Turkish customs office in the area when he strayed across the border.

A Turkish national, who appeared to be intoxicated, crossed illegally into Greece at the northeastern border near Kastanies in Evros early on Tuesday morning, state broadcaster ERT reported.

According to the report, Turkish soldiers tried to stop him when they saw him approaching the border and fired shots in the air, but failed to curb his progress.

Hundreds of people gathered at two separate rallies in northern Greece on Sunday afternoon calling for the release by Turkish authorities of two Greek soldiers who were arrested earlier this month for accidentally straying across the border.

Hundreds of people gathered at two separate rallies in northern Greece on Sunday afternoon calling for the release by Turkish authorities of two Greek soldiers who were arrested earlier this month for accidentally straying across the border.

The two Greek soldiers who were detained after accidentally crossing the Turkish border in bad weather on Thursday will appear before a court on Monday on charges of illegally entering a prohibited military zone, but not for espionage, as initial media reports had suggested. 

Two Greek troops are being held by the Turkish army since Thursday morning for accidentally crossing the Greek-Turkish border on Evros, Ekathimerini reported.