Most Turkish asylum seekers in Netherlands Gülen followers

Date posted: February 21, 2018

Dutch authorities have granted residence permits to 73 percent of 509 Turkish citizens who applied for asylum last year and most of them were followers of U.S.-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gülen, the man Turkey blames for the failed 2016 coup, BBC Turkish reported.

The Netherlands said it had granted residency to more Turkish nationals in 2017, than to citizens of any other country. Most of them, BBC Turkish said, were followers of Gülen. Tens of Turkish citizens are applying for asylum in the Netherlands each month, it said.

Wil Eikelboom, head of the Association of Dutch Lawyers and Asylum Lawyers (VAJN), said in October that his country recognised the right to asylum for followers of Gülen.

Source: Ahvalnews , February 21, 2018

Tags: Europe | Netherlands | Persecution of Hizmet by Erdogan | Turkish Asylum Seekers |

Related News

We must have more empathy for people fleeing for their lives around the world

No individual’s pain is to be underestimated. Thousands of families are being forced to leave their homeland by violence, terror, or fear of political prosecution. I would like to particularly talk about people of Turkey, who has been forced to leave their country since the Turkish Government ordered a massive witch hunt on members of the Hizmet (Gulen) movement after the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.

CCTV shows school principal being ‘abducted’ as post-coup crackdown in Turkey spreads to Malaysia

A school principal and a businessman have disappeared in the latest in a string of international arrests allegedly ordered by Turkey in a post-coup crackdown that has seen more than 100,000 people detained. Human rights group warns pair could be tortured if they are extradited back to Turkey.

Massachusetts Judges Express Fears Over Arrests, Firings Of Judges In Turkey

Former Justice Robert Cordy is worried sick about the fate of the judges he helped train in Turkey and here in Boston. They have been fired, jailed, or gone missing. “It’s devastating,” he said. “I don’t think anything has ever devastated me more than seeing this happen to people that I have come to know, love, respect. It is just beyond the pale.”

Fethullah Gulen: “If the allegations are proved, I agree to return to Turkey”

If some were under the influence of interventionist culture of the army and preferred to trample the values of Hizmet with this reflex – which I do not think – their sins can not be attributed to all supporters of the movement. May God punish them. Nobody, including me, is above the law. I wish that all perpetrators, regardless of their affiliation, are sentenced to what they deserve through fair trial.

13 criteria Erdogan regime uses to determine Gulen supporters are terrorists

Dr. Ismail Sezgin of the Centre for Hizmet Studies in the UK highlights the 13 criteria, based on Turkish PM Binali Yildirim’s statement, to identify Gulen supporters, who the regime considers terrorists. The arrests and purge in Turkey are made according to these criteria. Dr. Sezgin explains that these are nothing to with coup-plotting or terrorism. With these criteria the government of Turkey can anyone and this is what has been happening in Turkey.

Romanian Judge Blocks Extradition of Second Arrested ‘Gulenist’

A Romanian judge has blocked the extradition to Turkey of a Turkish schools director linked to the man accused by Ankara of orchestrating a failed 2016 coup, hours after the director was arrested on Tuesday.