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Turkey's foreign ministry swiftly condemned the arrest, saying
it violated the consular official's rights.
The official, a Greek national employed with the Turkish
consulate on the island of Rhodes, was arrested on Friday after
being questioned a week ago. A second Greek national was also
arrested.
"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 police official told
Reuters.
Kastelorizo is a small Greek island just off the Turkish coast.
Turkey's foreign affairs ministry said the consulate worker 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," the ministry said.
One of the suspects was accused of photographing movements of
Greek armed forces in the Aegean Sea. Greek media have reported
that both individuals are members of Greece's Muslim minority
based in the north of the country and that they had been under
surveillance for several months.
Greece and Turkey have long running tensions, ranging from the
divided island of Cyprus to exploration rights in the Aegean and
Mediterranean Sea. Tensions flared in August when Turkey sent a
seismic exploration vessel into waters claimed by Greece.
(Reporting By Lefteris Papadimas in Athens and Tuvan Gumrukcu in
Ankara, writing by Michele Kambas; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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