After the coup attempt, two Turkish military attachés in Athens, Staff Col. İlhan Yaşıtlı and naval attaché Col. Halis Tunç, had reportedly disappeared along with their families. The Greek foreign ministry canceled the two attachés’ accreditations on 7 August 2016, upon the request of the Turkish foreign ministry. Greek media reported that they might have fled to Italy. On 11 August 2016, the Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu confirmed the reports saying that they had left Greece for Italy on 6 August and adding that Turkey would officially ask the Italian authorities to extradite the two soldiers.
