A Turkish prosecutor has called for jail sentences of up to 5 years on charges of “entering a prohibited military zone'' for two Greek soldiers who strayed over the border into Turkey last year.

Greek Lt. Angelos Mitretodis and Sgt. Dimitris Kouklatzis were detained in the northwestern province of Edirne on charges of espionage and illegally entering the country in early March of last year.

Mitretodis and Kouklatzis were released pending trial 167 days later, in August of last year.

According to Athens, the pair became disoriented after encountering adverse weather conditions.

Turkey last week dropped the espionage charges against two Greek servicemen, ruling that that an examination of the mobile phones found on the soldiers’ revealed no evidence to support the allegation.

The soldiers in their defence included in the indictment cited unfavourable weather conditions and lack of experience in border control and said they had no intention of committing a crime, independent news site T24 said.