ANKARA: Jens Stoltenberg, Turkish alliance Secretary-General has said that some Turkish military officers posted to NATO in Europe have requested asylum since the abortive coup in Turkey in July.

Stoltenberg claimed that the officers submitted their asylum applications after Turkish authorities had in July dismissed hundreds of senior military staff serving with NATO in Europe and the United States.

“Some Turkish officers working in NATO command structures, some of them have requested asylum in the countries where they are working,” Stoltenberg told reporters in a press conference on Friday.

“As always, this is an issue that is going to be assessed and decided by the different Nato allies as a national issue.”

Stoltenberg will travel to Istanbul on Sunday for a meeting of lawmakers from across the alliance, joining Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and senior government ministers for the Nato Parliamentary Assembly’s annual session.

Stoltenberg, who had earlier raised the matter with Turkish authorities, said the NATO, which is designed to protect allies from attack, is based on what he called “core values” of democracy and the rule of law.

“I expect all allies to live up to those values,” he said. “When I visited Turkey in September, the message from the Turkish leadership was that they would prosecute those responsible and Turkey has the right to prosecute (them).”