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Former HPD MP seeking political asylum in Greece

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Leyla Birlik

The Associated Press

Greek authorities say a former lawmaker for the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) is requesting asylum in Greece after illegally crossing the border.

A police official said Turkish national Leyla Birlik, 44, surrendered to Greek police on Aug. 23 near the northeastern town of Alexandroupolis, and was in the process of requesting asylum in Greece.

He spoke on condition of anonymity on Aug. 24 because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

Meanwhile, Greek daily Ekathimerini reported on Aug. 24 that a prosecutor had ordered Birlik’s release until her asylum request has been examined.

Birlik, a former HPD lawmaker was sentenced in January to 21 months in prison for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Birlik had also been arrested in 2016 along with HDP co-leaders on separate terror-related charges. She was released pending appeal but was banned from leaving the country.

Thousand’s of Turkish diplomats and civil servants among the 15,654 people sought asylum in Germany

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Turkish diplomats and civil servants asylum claimants

Turkish diplomats and civil servants asylum claimants

A thousand Turkish diplomats and civil servants are among the 15,654 people who have sought asylum in Germany since the failed coup in 2016. The figures exclude fugitive Turkish soldiers.

Germany’s Federal Agency for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) disclosed Sunday that 288 holders of Turkish diplomatic passports and 771 Turkish “green” (civil service) passports had sought asylum in Germany from 2016 until early March 2018.

The count included the applicants’ children, said the Nuremburg-based BAMF, adding that its tally did not include asylum-seeking Turkish soldiers.

On the back of the July 2016 attempt, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suspended or fired around 150,000 civil servants, and jailed some 50,000 people, claiming that a one-time ally, US-resident preacher Fethulah Gulen, was behind the failed coup.

Ankara has also called for Europe to send back Turkish asylum-seekers allegedly aligned with Kurdish militants.

Asylum grants rise

Updating its tally to 15,654 for all Turks who had sought asylum in Germany since 2016, BAMF said some 8,500 did so last year and 5,700 in 2016. More than 1,400 people had applied up to the end of February this year, the agency added.

The number of applications approved rose during 2017 from eight to 28 percent, and so far in 2018 climbed to 42 percent of those applying to stay in Germany, BAMF said.

Discreet assistance across Germany

Two German-Turkish journalists, Hüseyin Topel and Fatih Aktürk, said asylum applicants were assisted across Germany by a diverse network of individuals, of both German and Turkish origin.

Despite Turkey’s recent release of Die Welt correspondent Deniz Yücel, a political sea-change inside Turkey was not evident, Topel and Aktürk remarked.

“Whoever comments critically about the [Turkish] government or government members is branded as a national traitor,” said Topel.

Reporting concerns

A fugitive Turkish lawyer, who reportedly spent six months in Turkish custody, was identified by DPA as 43-year-old Murat T. He described how he and his wife sought help only within Germany via trusted intermediaries: “We avoid the Turkish community, which has long lived here [in Germany]. Otherwise, we cannot be sure to avoid someone betraying us to the [Turkish] government,” said Murat.

The lawyer expressed concern in relation to some of Germany’s 3 million Turkish residents who he suggested were manipulated by the Turkish media: “They seem to believe Erdogan’s every word.”

Another exiled Turk, a businesswoman identified only as 40-year-old Selina, told DPA that “mistrust is a condition that we have had to live with over the past two years.”

“We were spied upon, lost good old friends, and were denounced as alleged Gulen supporters,” she added.

Christian helpers

A third asylum-seeker, identified as Canan A., a teacher, told DPA that practical assistance, such as for recognition of his academic qualification, was provided via Christian church circles.

“I’ve been helped a lot by the Diakonie,” Canan said, referring to the nationwide social welfare network run by Germany’s Protestant churches.

Canan said he and his wife wanted to stay and contribute their talents in Germany.

Democracy in Turkey had been “shredded,” its opposition intimidated and the country also faced economic ruin, Canan told DPA.

ipj/jm (dpa, Reuters, AFP)

Germany grants asylum to four former Turkish military forces amid soured ties

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Turkish paramilitary police and members of the special forces escort former Air Force Commander Akin Ozturk and other suspects of the 2016 failed coup, outside the courthouse at the start of a trial, in the capital Ankara, on August 1, 2017. (AP photo)

Germany has granted asylum to four former Turkish military forces, including one whom Ankara accuses of assuming a leading role in the country’s 2016 failed coup, amid ongoing tensions between the two countries.  

Turkey accuses former Turkish colonel and then head of the Ankara military academy Ilham P., whose surname cannot be disclosed under the German law, of being a leader of the coup, weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported.

Germany’s Interior Ministry said it cannot provide comment with regard to the issue for protection of data and privacy of individuals.

Ties between Turkey and Germany soured over a host of issues after the July 2016 coup attempt against the government in Turkey, with Berlin critical of Ankara’s post-coup crackdown and the arrest of German citizens in Turkey.

In early January, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visited Germany following months of dispute between the two countries. During the trip, Cavusoglu and his German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel agreed to devote all efforts to mending bilateral ties.

Turkey, which remains in a state of emergency since the coup, has been engaged in suppressing the media and opposition groups suspected to have played a role in the failed coup.

In the post-coup crackdown, Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, policemen, teachers, and civil servants and arrested over 55,000 others.

Turkey has accused Germany of harboring “terrorist” organizations opposed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The two countries have also clashed over Germany’s alleged support for Kurdish opponents of the Turkish government and its opposition to a controversial referendum in Turkey in April 2017, which gave Erdogan new sweeping powers. German authorities at the time prevented some pro-Erdogan campaigns in the country, a move that infuriated the Turkish president.

One of the disputes between Ankara and Berlin revolves around Turkey’s arrest of several Germans. Germany believes Turkey has detained seven Germans, four of whom have dual nationalities, for political reasons.

Germany-Turkey economic cooperation has also been hit as a result of the tense political relations.

Germany is Turkey’s biggest trade partner, but in the first nine months of 2017, the European country’s exports to Turkey dropped by about six percent.

4 Azerbaijan citizens were granted asylum in Armenia

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YEREVAN. – Four Azerbaijani citizens—a 17-year-old boy and a girl as well as a 35-year-old man and a 64-year-old woman—were granted asylum in Armenia in the first half of the year.

Karine Kuyumjyan, Head of the Census and Demography Division at the National Statistical Service of Armenia, said the abovementioned at a press conference on Monday.

She noted that 55 people—25 Syrian citizens, 9 Ukrainian citizens, 7 Cuban citizens, 6 Iranian citizens, and 8 from other nationalities—have sought asylum from Armenia.

In addition 46 persons—33 Syrian citizens, 4 Azerbaijani citizens, 3 Ukrainian citizens, 3 Iraqi citizens, and 2 Iranian citizens—were granted a refugee status in Armenia.

Turkish-Armenian writer who escaped from prison says he applied for political asylum in Greece

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Banu Şen – İZMİR

Turkish-Armenian linguist and writer Sevan Nişanyan, who escaped from prison two weeks ago after having been jailed in 2014 on charges of illegal construction, has announced that he had applied for political asylum in Greece and got his residence card there.

“We have applied for political asylum in Greece and got my residence card,” Nişanyan said in a post on his Facebook on July 26.

He also changed his cover photo to an image of the Acropolis.

Separately, Nişanyan also stated that his Twitter account was not under his control, pointing to a possible virus but it appeared to have already been hacked as of July 27.

Nişanyan was imprisoned in Jan. 2, 2014 on nine different charges to serve for 11 years and six months in jail after completing the construction of a house in Şirince town of the Aegean province of İzmir despite a court decision. The court had previously ruled that Nişanyan should not enter the area, regarded as a natural site.

After leaving prison on sanctioned leave, Nişanyan was supposed to surrender to the Foça Open Prison in İzmir by 9:45 a.m. on July 14, but he did not do so.

“The bird has flown away. The same wishes to the remaining 80 million,” he said in a tweet announcing his escape.

Nişanyan is one of Turkey’s leading linguists and has penned columns for the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos and the daily Taraf.

Since Erdogan Fake military coup, 236 Turkish citizens sought asylum in Greece

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Yorgo Kirbaki – ATHENS

A total of 236 Turkish citizens have sought asylum in Greece since the July 2016 failed coup attempt, marking a rising trend in the number of requests compared to previous years. According to official data from the Greek Asylum Services seen by daily Kathimerini,

236 Turkish citizens requested political asylum in the country between July 2016 and February 2017, with most of them are believed to be the members of the Fethullahist  which was accused of the FAke attempted takeover on July 15, 2016. According to figures, some 43 Turkish citizens sought asylum in Greece in 2015 while another 51 requested political asylum in the country between January 1, 2016 and July 14, 2016. Some 98 of the asylum requests were made in 2017, the data showed. Meanwhile, the re-trial process of eight former Turkish soldiers who escaped to Greece following the coup attempt will begin soon.

The process for Ankara’s new demand on their extradition has also begun. In January, the Greek top appeals court had rejected the extradition of the soldiers.  While they are still waiting for the outcome of their asylum request, Turkey’s NATO ally

Norway have already granted asylum for four Turkish soldiers and a military attache in the country.

136 Turkish diplomats seek Germany asylum

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Germany says it has received 136 asylum requests from Turks holding diplomatic passports since the July coup attempt against the Turkish president.

The figure is a total for the period August 2016 to January 2017, BBC News reports citing German media.

Turkey has urged Germany not to grant asylum to any military officers. Some posted to Nato bases in Germany are thought to be among the group.

In Greece, two more Turkish soldiers have requested asylum.

The pair – reported to be commandos – are believed to have taken part in the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

They are in Greek police custody, having applied for asylum last week in Orestiada, a small border town near Turkey.

Last month a Greek court rejected Turkey’s request to extradite eight other Turkish soldiers who fled after the coup attempt. Turkey is appealing against that ruling.

The German interior ministry did not identify the 136 Turks who requested asylum. Not only diplomats but also their spouses and children hold diplomatic passports.

It is not clear if any of them have been granted asylum yet.

Soldiers who fled after the coup attempt fear that they will not get a fair trial in Turkey.

The Turkish authorities have dismissed at least 100,000 public servants, including teachers, police and members of the judiciary.

Tens of thousands of suspects are in detention. The crackdown is targeting suspected supporters of Fethullah Gulen, a cleric who lives in self-imposed exile in the US.

Related links:

BBC. Turkey coup: 136 diplomats and relatives seek Germany asylum
Meduza: Более 130 граждан Турции с дипломатическими паспортами попросили убежища в Германии

Mazhar Zümrüt ‘Turkey is like Germany after 1933’

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asylumMore and more Turks are applying for political asylum in Germany. They feel threatened and repressed by the Erdogan government, and they fear for their lives. Most applicants are Kurds, like Mazhar Zümrüt.

Elegantly-dressed Mazhar Zümrüt (above) does not want to speak with us in the asylum center’s community room: He doesn’t trust the others living there. “They could spy on me,” he whispers. He is mistrustful, and feels persecuted and spied upon even in supposedly safe Germany. Yet, he is doing better here on the German countryside at the edge of North-Rhine Westphalia. He has settled in here, in his small, brightly-painted room. He says he has no other choice.

Fighting for political asylum

Mazhar Zümrüt has survived an odyssey. He first fled to Syria and then Iraq before arriving in Germany in May. He officially applied for political asylum on May 20. He says he feared for his life in a country in which repression and despotism have spread under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: “The Turkey that I fled is like Germany in 1933,” according to Zümrüt. Now, he pins all his hopes on Germany. “The rule of law is still respected here.”

As a Kurd living in Diyarbakir, he experienced injustice every day. He was cursed as a traitor and a terrorist. When police broke into his house last summer he knew it was time to leave. There has been a warrant out for Mazhar Zümrüt’s arrest since then – forcing him to go into hiding, separated from his wife. Zümrüt is accused of being a member of the outlawed militant group, PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party).

The 64-year-old Zümrüt, a former civil servant in the Ministry of Employment, denies the accusation. He says he is simply a member of the Kurdish BDP (Peace and Democracy Party), a local branch of the pro-Kurdish HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) with seats in Turkey’s parliament – the representatives of which were summarily arrested last month. And that is exactly what he told Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).

Record numbers of Turkish asylum seekers

Over the last several months, the agency has registered skyrocketing numbers of Turkish citizens applying for political asylum. Especially in the wake of the failed coup on July 15, and the purge that the Erdogan government has been engaged in since then. In reply to a request from Deutsche Welle, the Federal Office said that 4,437 asylum applications were submitted between January and October alone. That number now likely exceeds 5,000. Most applicants say that they are members of Turkey’s minority Kurdish community. In 2015, the agency says that it only received 1,767 such applications.

The German government and the foreign ministry are exhibiting solidarity with oppressed Turks. Recently, Minister of State at the Foreign Ministry, Michael Roth, explained in an interview: “Critics in Turkey should know that the German government stands with them in solidarity. Politically persecuted persons are free to apply for asylum here.”

Last hope: Germany

For Zümrüt, such declarations are a great relief, and give him hope. “Germany is a country of laws. I don’t think it will turn me over to the fascists in Turkey.” But Mazhar Zümrüt isn’t just worried about his own fate. He shows us pictures from happier days in Eastern Anatolia, in Diyarbakir. Together with his wife, an artist, he smiles broadly into the camera. “I miss her, I want her to come to Germany, too. But my wife has had to go underground as well.” It is difficult to maintain contact with her as Zümrüt fears his phone calls will be listened to by Turkish authorities.

The waiting has taken a toll on his nerves. A German course, which he attends daily, offers a bit of distraction. He says that part of the reason he came to Germany has to do with the fact that he had some German in school and then later at university. “But that was 40 years ago. It is difficult.” Zümrüt is not letting that get him down, however, he is fully engaged in his German class.

Nagging uncertainty

Yet, sentimental feelings come in waves. His wife: abandoned. His future: unclear. His way home: blocked. “Until the rights of Kurds are finally anchored in the constitution there is no way that I can go back to Turkey,” he summarizes.

A decision on his asylum application is due soon. It is said that hope is the last thing to die. But statistics, says Zümrüt, are rather sobering. This year, only about seven percent of those Turks seeking asylum in Germany have received it.

If he is unlucky, the elegant man from Diyarbakir says that he will have no choice but to go into hiding once again. Every morning he goes to the post box in hopes of finding a confirmation letter with the words: Your request for asylum has been granted.

Turkish soldiers at NATO air command seeking asylum in Germany: Report

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This file photo shows a view of Ramstein Air Base in southwestern German.

This file photo shows a view of Ramstein Air Base in southwestern German.

Several Turkish soldiers at NATO’s central command in Ramstein has sought asylum in Germany in the wake of Turkey’s widespread crackdown against military personnel, journalists and political activists.

According to a German official, quoted by the dpa news agency, family members of the soldiers stationed at the airbase in southwestern Germany have also applied for asylum.

Paul Junker, a regional official in nearby Kaiserslautern, said the asylum requests had come from “more than one family,” but declined to say how many individuals were involved.

German Interior Ministry spokesman Johannes Dimroth said last month that 35 Turkish diplomatic passport holders had formally applied for asylum in Germany. The actual figure of the asylum seekers, he said, could be higher.

Relations between Turkey and Germany have strained following the July 15 botched coup, which Ankara claims to have been organized by US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier often clashed with Turkish officials during a visit to Ankara this week, reflecting tough times in their relations.

After 11 years of negotiations, Turkey’s prospects of joining the EU look more remote than ever, with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu telling Steinmeier on Tuesday that Turkey was “fed up” with the European Union.

“We are truly fed up of these statements degrading Turkey. The criteria are clear but there are double standards and a two-faced approach. This is what we don’t like,” Cavusoglu told a joint news conference.

Over 240 people were killed and more than 2,100 others injured in the coup attempt, which Gulen has strongly condemned and denied any involvement in.

Tens of thousands of people, including military personnel, judges and teachers, have been suspended, dismissed or detained as part of the post-coup crackdown.

International rights groups argue that Ankara’s crackdown has gone far beyond the so-called Gulenists and targeted Kurds as well as government critics.

Turkey detains, suspends mayors over PKK links

On Thursday, Turkish officials arrested and suspected three mayors in the Kurdish-majority southeastern part of the country over alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group.

Unnamed security sources said police detained the mayor of Van city, Bekir Kaya, and four other municipal officials early Thursday.

The sources said the mayors of Mardin and Siirt citties, identified as Ahmet Turk and Tuncer Bakirhan respectively, had also been discharged and replaced with administrators appointed by the Interior Ministry.

Earlier this month, 13 legislators from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were arrested after being accused of links to Kurdish militants.

Party leaders Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ remain in custody along with eight others, waiting to stand trial on terrorism-related charges.

A shaky ceasefire between the PKK, which has been calling for an autonomous Kurdish region since 1984, and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015. Ever since, attacks on Turkish security forces have soared.

Over the past few months, Turkish ground and air forces have been carrying out operations against PKK positions in the country’s troubled southeastern border region as well as Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and northern Syria.

Source: presstv.com

Azerbaijani journalist accused of spying for Armenia applies for political asylum in Switzerland

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azerbaijan-journalistAzerbaijani journalist Rauf Mirkadirovapplied to the government of Switzerland for a political asylum, journalist’s lawyer, FuadAgayev, told the Caucasian Knot.

The lawyer reminded that Mirkadirov had left Azerbaijan in the middle of September of the current year in order to see his relatives, who live in Switzerland since 2014. “He could leave Azerbaijan based on a court decision on a temporary permission to leave the country on humanitarian grounds. In Switzerland, the journalist applied to the government for a political asylum,”Agayev said.

Commenting on the journalist’s appeal for the political asylum, Oktay Gulaliyev – the head of the Public Alliance Azerbaijan without Political Prisoners – reminded that Mirkadirov’s conviction is still in force in Azerbaijan. “Although the punishment is replaced with a probationary period, he can be sent to jail every moment depending on the political conjuncture,” the human rights defender stated.
According to Gulaliyev, the journalist’s wife and children are in Switzerland.

“After Mirkadirov’s arrest, his wife and two underage children remained in Turkey without any means of subsistence and under a threat of deportation. Only due to the help of international organizations, they could leave Turkey and get asylum in Switzerland. NowMirkadirovhasjoinedhisfamily,”Gulaliyevsaid.
Abstaining from other comments, the journalist confirmed the information of appealing for a politicalasylum.

Rauf Mirkadirov, columnist of Azerbaijani newspaper “Zerkalo”, was arrested on April 18 in Ankara on charges of expiration of documents. On April 19Mirkadirov was deported to Azerbaijan, where he immediately was arrested and put in custody by the MNS on suspicion of treason. On April 21 the court in Baku sanctioned his arrest for three months. Mirkadirovis accused of the cooperation with special services of Armenia; specifically he is accused of making the transfers of the state secret information, including those about the dislocation of Azerbaijani Armed forces to Armenia during 2008-2009.
In March 2016, Baku Court of Appeal handed down a judgement, according to which, Rauf Mirkadirovwas released from jail. The court applied article 70 of the Azerbaijani Criminal code and repealed the decision on the journalist’s detention. The court also replaced the punishment of 6 years of imprisonment with a probationary period of 5 years.

Meanwhile, the website of Baku bureau of Radio Liberty writes that November 4 will mark three years since the beginning of the trial against the former Azerbaijani presidential candidate IlgarMammadov. It is reminded that on March 17 2014, Mammadov – the leader of the civil movement Republican Alternative (REAL) – was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment. Since then, despite the Strasbourg court’s acquittal resolution, calls by international organizations, the Council of Europe, and public opinion, Mammadov remains in jail. “Guards and prisoners repeatedly beat him; he was placed in an isolation ward. However, the chiefs of the prison could not make him apologize and ask for mercy,” the Radio Liberty emphasizes.

According to the article, oppositionists are arrested and condemned on trumped-up charges so often in Azerbaijan that people inadvertently forget aboutMammadov. For example, the disgraced Azerbaijani diplomat ArifMammadov – Azerbaijan’s former ambassador to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and a forced immigrant based in Brussels with his family –remembered about him.
“Unfortunately, I do not see the mobilization of our society and international organizations for the release of that bright, competent politician. I think that it is necessary to daily pester the international organizations and human right groups in order to release Ilgar. Sometimes it seems like Ilgar’s imprisonment is suitable for many people, and not only the authorities,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

According to him, the REAL leader always stood out not only thanks to his intelligence and original thoughts, but also his openness, and it was so clear that his role was especially noted by the leadership of the Council of Europe.

“Incarcerating Ilgar, the authorities committed a serious crime against our nation depriving the society of a man like him. We consider IlgarMammadov, FuadGahramanli, and GiyasIbrahimov prisoners of conscience. The best sons and daughters of the country, the most literate, decent, and honest citizens of the country are currently imprisoned,”the former ambassador writes emphasizing at the same time that the current Azerbaijani society is the real “prisoner of conscience”.

Besides, in an interview with Radio Liberty, Mammadovmentioned a few details about his efforts on releasing IlgarMammadov from jail.

“In September, we raised this question in the Council of Europe. Then, the Committee of Ministers of the CoE made another decision on Mammadov’s release. The only opportunity is excluding Azerbaijan from the CoE, however, they do not want to do that. It is not a solution. If we are excluded, the citizens will be deprived of the opportunity to apply to the European Court. The official Baku’s ignoring the opinion of the CoEhits the CoE Secretary general and commissioner’s image. Everybody understands that the country should be excluded, however, on the other side, the Azerbaijani nation will most suffer from that,”Mammadov noted.

Answering to the Radio Liberty’s question about why there are no sanctions against Azerbaijan or its representatives, the expert noted that the Azerbaijani authorities pay huge amounts of money to the American lobbyist organization Podesta in order to neutralize the opportunity of sanctions.

“After the upcoming US presidential elections, something may change. I think that the US Ministry of Defense and Department of State do not want to apply sanctions yet, as the president IlhamAliyev provides for their strategic purposes,” the former diplomat said.

 

Source Panorama.am