Several Turkish citizens with diplomatic passports have sought political asylum in Switzerland, the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper reported on Wednesday. Volkan Karagöz, the former Minister Counselor of Turkey in Bern also sought asylum for himself and his family. The federal government confirmed that some Turkish diplomats have sought asylum.
The Swiss government says that since the attempted coup, 408 Turkish nationals have sought asylum, including a few with diplomatic passports.
NO DETAILED INFORMATION
The federal government (Bundesrat) confirmed that some Turkish citizens who hold diplomatic passports have sought asylum from Switzerland, but officials said they could not give further details. The federal government commented that they consist of a few individual asylum applications.
Tages Anzeiger, without naming them, expressed the concerns of some Swiss politicians that in a case of acceptance of the asylum application of Volkan Karagöz, this would give rise to a political and economic crisis between Switzerland and Turkey. The journal implied that more supporters of the religious Gülen Sect, which was one of the masterminds of failed coup attempt. The leader of the sect, Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen has been based in the United States since 1999.
MINISTER-COUNSELOR HAD BEEN SIDELINED
The former Minister Counselor of Bern, Volkan Karagöz, had been sidelined in February for being a member of the Gülen Sect and he was called to Ankara. However, he has sought asylum from Switzerland instead of returning back to Ankara.
NOT THE FIRST TIME
Several military officers and diplomatic passport holders sought asylum from Greece and Germany after the attempted coup d’état of July 15. These asylum applications were of the factors behind the increasing tension with those countries.
After 8 military officers had sought asylum from Greece and Turkey demanded extradition of asylum seekers, but the Greek Court of Cassation (Areopagus) has denied this demand. The judge Giorgos Sakkas had said that the officers were unlikely to face a fair trial if returned to their home country. The decision of the Court has led to a political crisis between the two countries, which both sent troops to Kardak rocks in the Aegean Sea.
Germany has also declared that 136 diplomatic passport holders had sought asylum from this country after the attempted coup. About 40 mostly high-ranking Turkish soldiers based at the NATO facilities in Germany but were suspended after the failed coup attempt in Turkey have sought asylum in Germany. These applications are of the reasons behind the tensed relations between Turkey and Germany.
Erdoğan had already demanded Swiss government to provide intelligence about Turkish citizens living in Switzerland who criticise and comment about him and demanded these people to be sued. The recent developments seem to add a new country to the list of countries with which Turkey’s relations are tensed.
