Report: Turkish soldiers at NATO base in Germany seek asylum

BERLIN – German media are reporting that several members of the Turkish military have sought asylum in Germany.

The dpa news agency said Wednesday that the soldiers are stationed at NATO's air command in Ramstein, southwest Germany.

Dpa quoted a regional official in nearby Kaiserslautern, Paul Junker, saying that family members of the soldiers also had applied for asylum.

Junker reportedly said the asylum requests had come from "more than one family," but declined to say how many individuals were involved.

Turkey has arrested thousands of members of its military following a failed coup attempt in July.

Relations between Germany and Turkey were strained recently when officials in Berlin said that Turkey's extradition requests for coup suspects wouldn't be granted, if they were politically motivated.