Official: Asylum-seeking Turkish officer no longer in Cyprus

NICOSIA, Cyprus – An official says a Turkish naval officer who had sought asylum in Cyprus is no longer on the east Mediterranean island nation.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he's not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, didn't say where the lieutenant has gone.

The officer and his wife had sailed earlier this month into a port on the island's southern coast aboard a small sailboat.

Turkey has jailed more than 50,000 people in a crackdown against suspected supporters of Fethullah Gulen, who it accuses of being behind a failed 2016 coup. Gulen denies the claim.