Turkey urges Germany to reject asylum of Gülenist coup plotters


Germany should not accept the asylum requests of 40 former Turkish soldiers allegedly linked to the botched Gülenist coup attempt of July 15, Defense Minister Fikri Işık said on Sunday.

Speaking to journalists at the governor's office in northwestern Edirne province, Işık said the soldiers had been dismissed from the military after the foiled coup, who then applied for asylum in Germany.

He said German authorities and judiciary "must assess them very carefully" and reject the asylum applications.

He also said he would raise the issue with his German counterpart at the NATO Security Conference in Munich next month, adding the asylum requests were "absolutely unacceptable".

"Our expectation from Germany is that they will never accept the asylum requests," he said.

He underlined that acceptance of any such requests would have consequences for bilateral relations.

Işık also invited all countries to cooperate with Turkey in its fight against terrorism, saying: "Turkey is sincere on this point, and it is fighting against terrorist organizations very seriously."

On Saturday, the defense minister also slammed Greek court's decision to not extradite eight fugitive former Turkish soldiers linked to the defeated coup; he termed the court's order a "political decision" and a "complete disappointment".