EDIRNE, Turkey

Turkish security forces on Monday nabbed eight suspected members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) – the group behind the defeated 2016 coup attempt – who were planning to illegally cross into Greece, according to security sources.

Police in the northwestern province of Edirne, which borders Greece, began following a minivan coming from Istanbul, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

When the suspects noticed they were being followed by the police, they tried to hide at a house in the city center, the sources added.

Turkish security forces raided the house and arrested 8 suspected FETO members, including dismissed police officers and teachers.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.

Ankara also 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.