Turkish Deputy PM slams Norway over FETO asylums

By Kaan Bozdogan and Fikriye Susam Uyar

ISTANBUL (AA) - Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak on Wednesday slammed Norway for granting asylum to five Turkish military officers suspected of links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

"This, unfortunately, in my opinion, is the first step that Europe, which suffered from civil wars that cost the lives of innocent people for hundreds of years […] is turning into that Dark Age again," Kaynak told reporters after a meeting in Istanbul.

Norway's government-owned news broadcaster NRK reported earlier Wednesday that four military officers and a military attaché working at NATO bases had requested asylum after the July 15 coup attempt in Turkey which Ankara has said was orchestrated by FETO.

Their lawyer Kjell M. Brygfjeld confirmed that the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration accepted his clients’ requests and granted them residence and work permits.

FETO, led by United States-based Fetullah Gulen, has been accused of orchestrating the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, that left 249 people martyred, and around 2,200 others wounded.

Turkey's government accuses the FETO terror network of staging the coup attempt as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Since the foiled coup, operations have been ongoing in the military, police, and judiciary, as well as in other state institutions across the country, to arrest suspects with alleged links to FETO.

Tens of thousands of police officers, military service personnel, and other public employees have been arrested.

Last month, an Interior Ministry spokesman said more than 130 Turkish citizens -- including former soldiers, diplomats, and their family members -- had sought asylum in Germany since the failed putsch.