Hundreds of Turkish Civil Servants Want Protection in Germany

Hundreds of Turkish civil servants have filed a request for asylum in Germany, according to data from the German Ministry of Interior in August this year, quoted by Spiegel.

The documents were filed after an attempted coup in July last year. Thousands of civil servants were sacked and arrested because of suspicion of ties with the organization led by preacher Fetullah Gullen.

Among the asylum seekers in Germany are 250 people with a Turkish diplomatic passport and 365 holders of the so- official passports, explained German Interior Minister Thomas de Meziere.

The relationship between Berlin and Ankara has not been good in recent months, mainly because of the arrest of quite a few German citizens in Turkey for political reasons. This provoked German politicians to call for an immediate end to the talks on Turkish membership in the EU, as well as for ending arms exports to the country.