More than 3,000 Turkish nationals have applied for asylum in Germany between January and August of 2018, Deutsche Welle Turkish service reported on Wednesday.
According to Sevim Dağdelen, deputy chair of Germany’s Left Party parliamentary group, half of the 3,248 applications received have been approved so far.
Dağdelen said the situation indicated that “democracy and the rule of law are trapped under wreckage in Turkey.”
“Under these circumstances, anyone who talks about a normalization in relations between Turkey and Germany with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is politically irresponsible and is betraying the democratic opposition in Turkey,” she added.
Dağdelen recommended that the German government halt European Union negotiations with Turkey, say “no” to enlargement of the customs union and stop arms exports to Turkey.
Turkish refugees in Europe is a new phenomenon that surged after a foiled coup attempt in 2016, after when the Turkish government started a crackdown on dissent.