ATHENS, Aug. 14 -- The two Greek servicemen who had been detained in Turkey since March after accidentally crossing the border and were released on Tuesday were due to return to Greece in the early hours Wednesday, according to an official announcement in Athens.
Following an order by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the Premier's aircraft was to reach Edirne, Turkey late Tuesday to bring Angelos Mitretodis and Dimitris Kouklatzis at Thessaloniki in northern Greece after midnight, read an e-mailed statement issued from Tsipras' office.
On board the aircraft will be Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Yorgos Katrougalos and Deputy Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff Konstantinos Floros.
At Thessaloniki airport, the two servicemen will be welcomed by their families and Defense Minister Panos Kammenos and Chief of the Hellenic Army Alkiviadis Stefanis.
In a previous statement, Tsipras welcomed the ruling of the Turkish court 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.
Mitretodis and Kouklatzis had been detained in Edirne in Turkey after 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 and they had entered Turkey by mistake, following footprints which they had located on the Greek side.
The case had further soured relations between Athens and Ankara.
The Edirne court ruled on Tuesday that there was no evidence of espionage and ground to detain them any longer, therefore 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.
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.
"Diplomacy was the big winner," commented Greece's Foreign Ministry in a statement on Tuesday evening, stressing that the development will help to improve Greek-Turkish ties.
"To the same direction will contribute the official inauguration in September of the historical building of the Consulate General of Greece in Izmir, which had been postponed due to the detainment of the two military men," added the ministry's statement.