At least 97 people have been detained over the past four months while attempting to escape from Turkey’s post-coup witch hunt to Georgia, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
Thousands of people have fled Turkey due to a massive witch-hunt launched by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government against the country’s dissidents and sympathizers of the Gülen movement in particular since a failed coup attempt on July 15. The government accuses the movement of masterminding the coup.
About 130,000 people have been purged from state bodies, 92,000 detained and 45,000 arrested since the coup attempt. Arrestees include journalists, judges, prosecutors, police and military officers, academics, governors and even a comedian.
Law enforcement agencies have rounded up at least 97 people near Turkey’s Georgian border over the past four months.
Turkish nationals, under normal circumstances, are able to enter Georgia with only their national IDs in accordance with a visa-free travel agreement between the two countries.
Dozens of people have also been detained near Turkey’s Greek border in the recent past as citizens try to escape from ever increasing pressure at home to any country they can get into legally or illegally. (Turkey Purge)