Norway has granted political asylum to four Turkish officers and a military attache who feared reprisals after last year's failed coup in Turkey, an attorney said Wednesday.
All five were in Norway during the July 15 attempted coup and deny any involvement, attorney Kjell M Brygfjeld told dpa.
Brygfjeld represents four of the five asylum applicants. Due to attorney-client privilege he was unable to offer more details at present.
Earlier this year, one of the officers, who was not identified, told Oslo daily VG: ‘I was fired here in Norway and my passport has been cancelled. If I go back, I'll be immediately arrested and risk torture and would be forced to make false confessions.’ Turkey declared a state of emergency after the failed coup and then proceeded to crack down on alleged supporters of US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara blamed for the putsch.
The Norwegian Foreign Ministry said asylum decisions are handled by Norwegian migration authorities, and that it would not speculate on possible ‘international reactions’ to those decisions, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Gurli Solberg told dpa.
The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, which handles asylum bids, said it could not comment on individual cases. It said 17 adult men were among the 52 Turkish nationals that Norway granted asylum in January and February.
Last year, 89 Turkish nationals applied for asylum in Norway, of which 48 were adult men. The statistics showed 74 of the 89 bids were filed after July.
The daily Klassekampen, which first reported the outcome of the case on Wednesday, said the officers were living at unlisted addresses and some family members had also been granted asylum.
Turkish officers in other NATO members including Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States have made similar bids.
