Turkey suspends migrant deal with Greece as tensions flare

"We have a bilateral readmission agreement. We have suspended that readmission agreement," Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, before adding that a separate agreement between the EU and Turkey still stands. 

Greece has deported more than 1,000 foreign nationals to Turkey in the last two years under the bilateral deal, which was penned in 2001. 

Cavusoglu told Anadolu news that Greece wanted to resolve the issue over the four soldiers but the country faced stiff international pressure. 

"The Greek government wants to resolve this issue. But we also see there is serious pressure on Greece from the West. Especially on Greek judges," he said.

Greek courts have rejected Turkey's extradition request, saying those accused of involvement in the 2016 failed coup would not face a fair trial back home. 

More than 50,000 people have been arrested and 140,000 public workers sacked or suspended over alleged ties to the Gulen movement that Turkey holds responsible for the 2016 coup attempt.

Turkey has come under strong criticism from its Western allies for the scale of its crackdown.

Last month, the Greek government rejected a proposal by Turkey's president to exchange two Greek soldiers detained since early March for the Turkish servicemen who fled to Greece in 2016.