More than 130 Turkish citizens seek asylum in Germany

BERLIN (AA) - More than 130 Turkish citizens, including former soldiers, diplomats and their family members have sought asylum in Germany since the July 15 coup attempt, officials confirmed on Friday.

Speaking at the government's regular press conference in Berlin, Interior Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said that, so far, 136 Turkish citizens with diplomatic passports had applied for asylum in Germany.

“As far as I know, there has not been a decision yet on any of these applications,” he said, adding that authorities do not give priority to asylum applications by diplomatic passport holders.

Around 40 of the asylum seekers are believed to be Turkish ex-soldiers, many of whom were stationed at NATO bases in Germany. Several military attaches serving abroad and a few former diplomats also sought asylum in the country, according to German officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Former Turkish officials who applied for asylum in Germany were recalled by Ankara following the foiled July 15 coup attempt -- which left 248 people martyred, and around 2,200 others wounded -- due to the ongoing investigations on suspected ties to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group which is believed to have organized the attempted military takeover.

Last month, Turkey’s Defense Minister Fikri Isik called on German authorities not to grant asylum to ex-soldiers who had been dismissed from the Turkish military after the foiled coup.

Germany, which has a 3 million-strong Turkish community, is among the countries where FETO, led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, has a large network with dozens of private schools, businesses and media organizations.

Several important Gulenist figures from Turkey, including prosecutors and journalists, are also believed to have fled to Germany.

Turkey's government accuses the FETO terror network of staging the coup attempt as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Since the foiled coup, operations have been ongoing in the military, police and judiciary, as well as in state institutions across the country, to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETO.