Over 17,000 Turks seek asylum in Europe in 2018 after coup attempt
ANKARA, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- The number of Turkish citizens seeking asylum in European Union countries have significantly increased in the past two years, exceeding 17,000 pending applicants so far this year, a Turkish official told Xinhua. Turks ranked the fifth largest group among asylum applications to the EU member states in 2018. Majority of these applicants are believed to be linked to Gulen Movement, supporting fugitive preacher Fethullah Gulen who is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding the coup, the official said on anonymity. The official added that in 2016, there were almost none asylum applications from Turkey to the EU member states.
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