ANKARA

Nine suspected members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey, were nabbed in northwestern Turkey while trying to escape to Greece, said the National Defense Ministry on Friday.

The suspects were among 11 people caught by Turkish border guards in the province of Edirne, bordering Greece, the ministry said.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 2016 in Turkey, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.

Ankara accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan