Turkish judicial official requests asylum on Greek island
A Turkish judicial official claiming to have fled the troubled country because he was a victim of persecution, has requested protection from Greek authorities after landing on Tuesday morning on the eastern Aegean island of Chios.
According to a report by the ANA-MPA agency, the 50-year-old man admitted to sailing from the Turkish coast to Chios in a rubber boat with another six asylum-seekers, and presented Greek authorities with his identity card and proof of his professional capacity as a judicial official.
He told coast guard and police officers that he is being persecuted in Turkey for his political beliefs as part of a widespread crackdown by the government on dissidents in the wake of a failed coup last month.
The 50-year-old has been arrested for entering Greece illegally and is to be transferred to Athens, where he will formally submit his request for asylum.
