08/06/2018 (Agence Europe) – The Commission is in close contact with the Greek and Turkish authorities following the announcement by Turkey's Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday 7 June of the suspension of the readmission agreement between Greece and Turkey due to Greece's release of four Turkish soldiers who fled their country after the attempted coup in July 2016. The Commission said on Friday that the impact of this decision should be limited because very few migrant returns, even under the EU-Turkey declaration, have been operated from Greece to Turkey in 2018 – and the situation was the same in 2017. Indeed, the Commission mentioned the figure of 25 returns. Should this bilateral agreement be suspended for longer, the returns could continue to take place through the EU-Turkey declaration, the Commission stated. (SP)