Turkey urges Germany to reject asylum of ex-soldiers

Speaking to journalists at the governor’s office in northwestern Edirne province, Defense Minister Fikri Isik said on Sunday the soldiers had been dismissed from the military after the foiled coup, who then applied for asylum in Germany, according to Anadolu Agency.

He said German authorities and judiciary "must assess them very carefully” and reject the asylum applications.

He also said he would raise the issue with his German counterpart at the NATO Security Conference in Munich next month, adding the asylum requests were "absolutely unacceptable".

"Our expectation from Germany is that they will never accept the asylum requests," he said.

He underlined that acceptance of any such requests would have consequences for bilateral relations.

Also, Isik invited all countries to cooperate with Turkey in its fight against terrorism, saying: "Turkey is sincere on this point, and it is fighting against terrorist organizations very seriously."

On Saturday, the defense minister also slammed Greek court’s decision to not extradite eight fugitive former Turkish soldiers linked to the defeated coup; he termed the court's order as a "political decision" and a "complete disappointment".