ANKARA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday that Greece is being seen by Gulenists as a "safe haven."

"What Greece has been doing harms our friendship," Yildirim said, while elaborating on a Greek high court's decision to release a Turkish ex-soldier.

"We think that our enemy should also be seen as an enemy of Greece," he added.

A day earlier, the Greek Council of State ordered the release of former Turkish soldier Suleyman Ozkaynakci, who was among the eight former Turkish servicemen fleeing to Greece a day after a failed coup attempt in July 2016.

Ankara accuses the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen of being behind the military coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The ruling "showed once again that Greece is a country that protects coup plotters," Turkey's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

"The Greek authorities are making statements that other coup plotters will be released in the coming days. This cannot be explained as a simple application of the length of detention, as the Greek authorities claim," the statement added.

Ozkaynakci sought asylum from the Greek authorities in 2017 and his application was later accepted by an independent asylum commission.

He was released after being granted asylum but arrested again following an objection from the government.

Turkey and Greece, two NATO neighbors, have seen their relations soured over the eight former Turkish soldiers, as Greek courts have repeatedly rejected Turkish demands for their extradition.

The Council of State is expected to make a final decision over the asylum requests of all the eight ex-Turkish soldiers on May 4, local media said.