There was a 203 percent increase in the number of asylum applications from Turkish citizens filed in Germany in the first seven months of 2023 compared to the same period last year, Deutsche Welle Turkish edition reported, citing data from the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF).
According to BAMF statistics, a total of 188,967 asylum applications were filed in Germany between January and July. Turkish citizens filed 23,486 of the applications in this period, 202.9 percent higher than the number of applications filed in the first seven months of 2022.
Among the asylum applications filed by Turkish citizens, 12,174 have been concluded so far with an approval rate of 15 percent.
Turks follow only Syrians and Afghans in the number of asylum applications filed in Germany.
Since a failed coup in 2016 that led to a widespread crackdown on dissent by the Turkish government, the number of Turkish nationals seeking asylum in Germany and other Western European countries has seen a significant increase.
An ongoing economic crisis in the country caused by skyrocketing inflation, which stands at close to 50 percent, and the constant depreciation of the Turkish lira is also prompting some Turks to seek ways to leave the country for a better life in Europe.
Moreover, yet another victory by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose party has been ruling Turkey since 2002, in the May presidential election led to great disappointment among his opponents, prompting many of them to reconsider living in the country.
Turkish media outlets reported in June on a 17-year-old high school student from the western province of İzmir who went to Italy for a student exchange program, then travelled to Germany, where he filed an asylum application.
The student reportedly told his family not to wait for his return since he had applied for asylum and was taken to a refugee camp in Germany.
In a similar development, a flight attendant named Serhat Temel working for the Turkish-based Pegasus Airlines announced in a video posted on social media that he is applying for asylum in the Netherlands following a flight to Amsterdam from İstanbul.
Temel said he is ending his 27 years of life in Turkey to live in the Netherlands because he thinks it is no longer possible to lead a decent life in his homeland due to economic problems, refugees and the mafia.
“I don’t accept nor do I want to live in a country when people are killed even just walking down the street,” he said in the video.
