Turkey

The political situation in Turkey deteriorated significantly since Summer 2016. Nevertheless, the practice is still quite strict. According to the information by SEM, the practice is getting more tolerant with an acceptance rate of over 50% in Spring 2018. However, if the asylum seeker may credibly show his or her persecution, there are chances for a B, in particular in cases with active political involvement for the Kurdish population as well as in constellations where the asylum seeker has been subject to actual persecution before. A crucial question here is always the current threat (“Aktualität der Verfolgung”) – meaning that the asylum seeker has to explain why s/he has not left the country earlier and that an earlier threat is still pending respectively was still pending at the time of his or her escape.

Practical advice:

Turkey is considered a safe country and it is therefore difficult to get a position as a refugee. The best chances of obtaining refugee status are as follows: if the person is persecuted as an ethnic minority; if the person spreads political statements (especially on social media) against the current government in a public-effective manner or if there is an increased likelihood that the person will be arrested, tortured or forcibly recruited on another occasion.

It is imperative that there is a temporal and local proximity between the events and the persecution. Local proximity means that the event must have taken place in Turkey. The alleged persecution must be presented to the SEM by means of conclusive documents (for example: photos, videos, official documents, statements by friends and oth ers - each with translation at least into English, but more preferably into German).

It should always be mentioned to the interviewees that despite the Turkish government's espionage activities in Switzerland, professional secrecy applies and no reprisals must be feared.

It is important to include current political events in Turkey in the argumentation and to consult the most current practice of the Federal Administrative Court. There are also good background reports from Human Rights Watch and country reports from Euro- pean migration authorities describing the Situation.