Federal Office for Migration and Refugees

The number of Turks seeking asylum in Germany is up sharply this year and has been rising steadily since last year's failed coup attempt, German government data showed on Sept. 18.

Germany's immigration authority has rejected more than 5,000 asylum applications filed by Turkish citizens, local media reported on Sept. 13. 

German daily Tagesspiegel reported that the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) had ruled on 8,547 asylum applications in 2017 filed by Turkish citizens, and rejected 5,040 of them.        

Around 450 Turkish diplomats, military officers, judges and other public officers have applied for asylum in Germany, according to a report by Der Spiegel.

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere on Feb. 3 ruled out the Turkish government's demand to not evaluate the asylum application of 40 Turkish NATO soldiers suspected of being members of the Gülen network, believed to have orchestrated the failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt. 

More than half of Germans see refugees and integration as Germany's biggest problem, a survey showed, despite the number of newcomers falling significantly on the year. 

A record 890,000 mainly Muslim migrants from the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere arrived in Europe's largest economy in 2015, prompting concerns about security and integration. 

At least three Turkish diplomats, reportedly including one military attache, are seeking asylum in Germany in the wake of the failed military coup in Turkey, believed to have been masterminded by the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), German media cited government sources as saying. 

A first Syrians arrived in Germany from Istanbul April 4, while a first group of migrants arrived in Turkey from Greece on the same day under an EU-Turkey migrant deal aimed at stopping the influx of refugees into Europe.

The Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (D?T?B) in Germany has called on Muslims in the country to stand guard in front of the buildings of media outlets after Friday prayers on Jan. 15, in a show of solidarity against terrorism in the aftermath of the attack at French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead.