According to migration data announced by German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer on Wednesday, the number of Turkish citizens who applied for asylum in Germany in 2018 rose by nearly a quarter compared to the previous year, Deutsche Welle Turkish service reported.
Seehofer presented the asylum data in Berlin along with the German government’s 2016-17 migration report released on Wednesday.
According to the data, 10,655 asylum applications were lodged by Turkish citizens in 2018, an increase of 2,172 applications compared to the 2017 figure of 8,483.
Turks ranked sixth among asylum seekers after Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans, Iranians and Nigerians.
This increase came against the backdrop of a general decline of 16 percent in the number of applications resulting from stricter asylum rules recently adopted by the government for the management of migrants as well as border control.
The compromise reached over the summer by the ruling coalition had designated an upper limit of 180,000 to 220,000 asylum seekers, and the target was met with the 2018 figures.
Turkey launched a massive crackdown targeting followers of the faith-based Gülen movement in the aftermath of a 2016 failed coup attempt which the Turkish government blames on the movement, although it strongly denies any involvement.
Since then, the number of Turks seeking asylum in Western European countries has been on the rise.