Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that Norway’s ambassador to Turkey was summoned after five Turkish defectors were granted asylum in this country.
The meeting took place at the Turkish Foreign Ministry in the capital on Wednesday, confirms our State Department to NTB.
Turkey reacted strongly when they were informed that the five Turks , which the regime in Ankara suspects were part of the movement that was behind the attempted coup last year, have been granted asylum in Norway.
The five, four officers and a military attaché, fear they will be subjected to wrongful prosecution and torture if they return home to Turkey.
– We have informed the Turkish ambassador in Oslo that it is the Norwegian immigration office that decides on asylum applications based on Norwegian law. Our ambassador to Ankara conveyed the same message to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, says communications manager Frode Overland Andersen in UD.
Secret address
All five are now living at a secret address in Norway. According to VG their family members have also received asylum in this country.
The Norwegian Immigration Act clearly states that Norway is committed to providing asylum to people if there is a well-founded fear that they will be exposed to persecution, mainly due to political opinion.
The same requirement comes into play if there is a real danger that they will “be subject to the death penalty, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by returning to their homeland.”
– Bandits
All five were already stationed in Norway when a part of the Turkish military tried to take power in Turkey on July 15 last year. They claim they had nothing to do with the attempted coup.
Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus maintains that they belong Feto, an organization that Turkish authorities believe was behind the attempted coup in the country last summer.
– An immediate expulsion of those Feto-bandits who have sought asylum in European countries, is necessary to maintain a friendly relationship between Turkey and those countries, said Kurtulmus.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
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