A group of Turkish military officers based in Norway who had refused to return home after the failed July 15 coup attempt, were granted political asylum today in the country.
"I can confirm they have gotten political asylum in Norway. We are talking about a number of officers, based in Norway and who had been ordered home after the coup," lawyer Kjell M. Brygfjeld told The Associated Press.
Norwegian justice and immigration authorities declined to comment.
"They had been in Norway for a couple of years," Brygfjeld said, declining to confirm local media reports that there were five men involved.
Newspaper Verdens Gang said the group feared being arrested in Turkey. One of them who was not identified told the daily last month he had been fired, his passport had been canceled and he feared torture if he returned.
"If I return, I will be detained and risk torture and will be forced to make a false confession. People die inexplicably in Turkish prisons," the person who was not identified told Verdens Gang last month.
"The news that appeared in Norway indicate that some coup-plotting officers were granted the right to asylum, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag, speaking to reporters in Sinop, told state-run Anadolu Agency.
"This is not an acceptable situation. Europe should not become a safe haven for coup plotters, for terrorists and murderers."
In 2016, 89 people from Turkey applied for asylum in Norway with peaks in September and October when 17 and 28 people sought shelter respectively.
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