Neum Shalamanov, the Bulgarian weightlifter who defected...
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Neum Shalamanov, the Bulgarian weightlifter who defected in Australia last weekend, asked for asylum in Turkey, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Ankara, Turkey.
Shalamanov, 19, disappeared Sunday after winning a record third World Cup title in Melbourne.
The spokesman said Shalamanov visited the Turkish Consulate in Melbourne on Wednesday, escorted by police. A spokesman for the Australian Foreign Affairs Department said Shalamanov left for Turkey early Friday.
Shalamanov is an ethnic Turk, and his real name is Naim Suleymanov.
The spokesman said the athlete told Consul-General Sahir Armaoglu that he defected to protest Bulgaria’s forced assimilation of its Turkish minority and wants asylum in Turkey.
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