News / Turkey / EU

Turkey denounces detention of consular official in Greece

Friday, 18 December 2020 4:31 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 18 December 2020 4:31 PM ]

A view of the Turkish consulate in Rhodes, Greece (file photo)

Police in Greece have detained a Turkish consular official on suspicion of spying, with Ankara saying that the individual’s rights have been violated.

Reuters quoted a senior Greek source as saying that the official, a Greek citizen employed by the Turkish consulate on the Greek island of Rhodes, was arrested on Friday after being interrogated a week ago.

Police also arrested a second Greek suspect.

“One person was working at the Turkish consulate in Rhodes and the second man worked on a passenger ship which was operating the Rhodes-Kastelorizo line as a cook,” a Greek police official told Reuters.

Kastelorizo is a small Greek island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

According to Greek media, the two individuals had been under surveillance for several months.

One of the suspects was accused of taking photographs of the Greek armed forces’ movements in the Aegean Sea.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said the detained official was a secretary at its Rhodes representation.

“In the process that led to the arrest of our employee, who holds Greek nationality, Greece violated his freedom, security, and respect for private and family rights in the framework of the European Convention of Human Rights and Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” it added.

Turkey and Greece have been embroiled in a long-running territorial dispute in the eastern Mediterranean over the region’s natural resources.

Tensions intensified in August when Turkey dispatched a seismic research vessel and warships escorting it to prospect for energy resources in the disputed waters.

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