The European Statistics Office "Eurostat" revealed in its latest statistics that the number of asylum seekers with Turkish nationality in the European Union countries increased by 5 times during the past five years, which are the years that followed the failed coup attempt against the rule of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan which took place in mid-July 2016.
The number of Turkish citizens who applied for asylum in the European Union countries reached 18,145 in 2020, while the number of asylum seekers with Turkish citizenship in the European Union countries was 2,995 in 2015, about a year before the failed coup attempt took place against Erdogan rule. After that, thousands fled abroad because of the suppression of those accused of participating in the military coup.
Informed Turkish sources considered that "these figures of the number of Turkish refugees in European countries do not reflect the reality, as they are greater than those published by Eurostat.” Thousands of Turks had already arrived in Europe but had not applied for asylum in their countries as they did not have any proof of their escape from the security authorities in Turkey.
European asylum offices usually reject asylum applications from people who cannot produce documents proving that there is a real risk to their lives, and also reject asylum applications for people who fled Turkey for economic reasons. This makes knowing the exact number of Turkish refugees in Europe a "difficult thing," as described by a Turkish lawyer who deals with refugee issues.
Enes Kabadayı, a Turkish lawyer, said that the European states are well aware of the dire position of judicial independence in Turkey, but they can never take a clear stance towards Turkey due to both the refugee problem and commercial agreements.
“European states examining the situation of danger facing these people who have come to Europe and sought asylum must be shown how their situation poses a threat to fundamental rights, such as the right to life, liberty and security of fair trial. They want you to present your concrete arguments on this. Some people seek asylum for economic reasons, but this is not considered a valid reason,” Kabadayı explained.
"Sometimes, although the asylum seeker tries to conceal his economic purpose, as soon as the authorities of the relevant states understand this situation they reject the asylum application. Of course, some people are in real danger but they may have difficulty proving this with a document," he added.
"Although I am a lawyer, I was arrested for political reasons and stayed in Silivri Prison for 14.5 months (June, 2017-August, 2018). After I was released from prison, I did not want to live any longer in the pressurized environment in Turkey and came to Europe."
"I am only 28 years old. At this age, I am trying to fight against human rights violations in Turkey. Nobody should have such an obligation. Therefore, for whatever reason I left Turkey, thousands of people want to leave Turkey for the same reasons. I know hundreds of people my age who have been forced to leave their country. These people are leaving Turkey forever. If there is a political power in your country that does not respect human rights, oppresses dissidents and sends pregnant women and children to prison, you can no longer breathe. Nobody can live without breath. Freedom is also the breath of our soul,” Kabadayı indicated.
Kabadayı also added that in a country where there are no freedoms, everything is negatively affected. The Turkish economy is one of the areas that gets the biggest impact in this regard. People commit suicide due to economic difficulties. There is no prosperity in lands where there are no human rights. That is why people dream of leaving Turkey, whether for political or economic reasons.
Not all Turks can obtain European travel visas—they use illegal land or sea routes to enter Europe and then apply for asylum.
Although ethnic Kurds from Turkey used to be the majority of those who fled Turkey because of the oppression to which they were subjected, today the native Turks also flee, especially since the failed coup attempt was followed by the dismissal of tens of thousands from their jobs after being accused of participating in it. The Turkish authorities' repression of journalists in particular also led to hundreds of them fleeing to Europe.
Despite the difficulty of obtaining European visas, hundreds of Turks entered European territory through "service" passports which are documents that Ankara grants to those who receive assignments abroad. This document holder has the right to enter Europe without a visa.
Last April, 43 out of 45 Turks refused to return to their country after arriving in Europe with "service" passports, also known as "gray" passports, due to their gray cover.
Ankara stopped dealing with these passports weeks ago after Germany opened investigations of hundreds of Turks who had paid thousands of dollars to obtain gray passports to enter its land.
