Turkish Officers at NATO seek asylum
- By defencematters
Following the July failed military coup in Turkey many Turkish officers posted at NATO now seek asylum in fear of their lives.
By Ioanna Iliadi
A number of Turkish officers posted to NATO have sought asylum following the country’s failed military coup in July, NATO’s Secretary-General said on Friday.
Jens Stoltenberg said the officers had requested asylum in the countries where they had been posted but gave no names, numbers or reasons for the requests.
“Some Turkish officers working in the NATO command structure… have requested asylum in the countries where they are working,” Stoltenberg said.
German media have carried reports that some members of the Turkish military have requested asylum in Germany.
Stoltenberg, who is to visit Istanbul on Sunday, also said there had been “a number of changeovers in the NATO command structure where Turkish personnel has been changed”, adding that he expected Turkey to “fill all its posts”.
More than 110,000 people have been sacked or suspended from posts, mainly in the military, civil service, academia, media and judiciary, since the failed coup, with about 36,000 people jailed pending trial.
Germany’s Office for Migration and Refugees said on Friday it had received 4,437 political asylum requests from Turkish citizens up to the end of October, compared to 1,767 for the whole of last year.
The countries involved will consider the cases individually.
Turkey has dismissed, suspended, detained or arrested tens of thousands of people since the July coup attempt.
Many are from the military, although others are teachers, policemen, judges and journalists.
