There is a strong anti-Turkish and anti-Erdoğan lobby in Europe that is using people in high places in Germany to harm relations between Turkey, Greece, Germany and the European Union and they are succeeding.

Can anyone explain why Greece refused to extradite the eight officers involved in the bloody July 15 coup attempt in Turkey? Can anyone explain why suddenly news came out that 40 Turkish officers who have links to the coup attempt sought political asylum in Germany on the eve of Chancellor Angela Merkel's planned trip to Turkey on Thursday?

The attempt by coup plotting officers to seek asylum in Germany is a matter of great embarrassment and a setback for Frau Merkel. She should tend to her enemies at home as much as trying to preach to us about how we should run our country.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had promised President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that he would see to it that these eight rebel soldiers would be extradited to Turkey immediately. But after long legal battles and behind-the-scenes activity for six months, we were shocked to hear last week that the Greek High Court had refused to extradite the soldiers.

We have information that despite all the pressures, Tsipras was intent on keeping his promise to Turkey by handing over at least six of the coup plotters to Turkey 48 hours prior to the High Court verdict but he was "persuaded" in the last minute not to interfere and let the rebel soldiers stay in Greece.

The pressure reportedly came from the European Union and especially from Germany. The Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) that staged the coup reportedly manipulated people in high places in Germany, who then put the screws on the Greek prime minister.

Tsipras and people like him remember well the ugly faces of military coups and what the junta colonels did to his country so it is only natural that he opposes coup plotters. He also realizes the importance of Turkish efforts to keep Syrian refugees off the Greek islands and would not want to antagonize Turkey. Yet he was clearly threatened and had to bow to pressure. Yet this of course does not change the fact that he failed to keep his promise and this will negatively hurt Turkish-Greek relations.

The fact that the Greek prime minister failed to keep his promise to extradite coup plotters is only one of the horrible examples on how Greece is sheltering terrorists bent on harming Turkey. Until now Greece has failed to extradite at least 50 terrorists on the wanted list in Turkey. What is sad is that half of these are members of the notorious left-wing Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) terrorist group who have murdered many Turks, and attacked the U.S. embassy in Ankara and other U.S. facilities in Turkey. These people find refuge in Greece. They are trained at the refugee camps in Greece. They have direct links with their comrades in Turkey and slip in and out of Turkey to kill and spread violence. Yet Greece does not extradite them. Is this how a civilized country behaves?

Greece also harbors PKK terrorists as well as FETÖ members. So some Greeks seem to think "the enemy of my enemy is our friend." They are wrong. We have shown over and over again that we are not the enemy and we do not want to be the enemy. But if you continue to prod us we will retaliate.

The visit to the rocks of Kardak in the Aegean by the Turkish chief of staff was a small message. Let us hope they understand. We know how to let Syrian mi

grants flood the Greek islands and from there the rest of Europe.