About 40 mostly high-ranking Turkish soldiers who worked at NATO facilities in Germany but were suspended after the failed coup in Turkey in July have requested asylum in Germany, Reuters reports referring to the reports of news magazine Der Spiegel and broadcaster ARD.
No comment was immediately available from the government or NATO officials.
The report quoted officials with German federal migration office and the interior ministry as saying that the asylum applications would be handled as all others.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a conference in November that some Turkish military officers posted to NATO in Europe had requested asylum but gave no specific numbers.
Reuters reported in October that Turkey had fired hundreds of senior military staff serving at NATO in Europe and the United States after the coup. Most were recalled to Turkey, but some chose not to return, fearing reprisals.
To note, Greece’s Supreme Court this week ruled against the extradition of eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece in July after the abortive coup.
