Turkish police detained 59 Syrian refugees as well as three Turkish citizens as they were attempting to flee to Greece on Tuesday.
Thousands of people have fled Turkey due to a massive witch-hunt launched by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government against sympathizers of the Gülen movement in the wake of a failed coup on July 15.
A teacher, identified by the initials A.S.D., and two small business owners, M.P. and A.U., were detained along with 59 Syrian nationals in Aydın’s resort town of Kuşadası while planning to cross to Samos Island in inflatable boats.
Turkish media reported that arrest warrants had been earlier issued for the three Turkish citizens as part of an investigation into the Gülen movement, which the government blames for the July 15 coup attempt.
(Turkey Purge)