Turkish gendarmerie troops detained five people suspected of having ties to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) on Wednesday as they were attempting to sneak into Greece.
Suspects, including two siblings, were discovered in two villages near the Turkish-Greek border in the northwestern province of Edirne.
Greece, the primary destination for irregular migrants seeking a gateway to Europe, has also been an access point for FETÖ suspects since the July 15, 2016 coup attempt perpetrated by the group’s military infiltrators.
Speaking to media outlets earlier this month, Foreign Ministry officials said that Greece was no longer “a transit country” for FETÖ members and was serving as a place of residence, citing that a large number of FETÖ members, “between 8,000 and 10,000,” was now in Greece. The officials also accused Greece of harboring members of other terrorist groups involved in attacks in Türkiye, including the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) and the PKK.
Greece has long been accused of being a favorite hideout for terrorists by Türkiye. Those fleeing Türkiye have taken shelter in refugee camps in Lavrion near Athens under the guise of being asylum-seekers, especially in the 1980s. Notoriously, just one day after the coup bid, eight FETÖ member soldiers fled to the Greek city of Alexandroupolis in a military helicopter belonging to Turkey and sought asylum there. In Greece, the soldiers claimed that they were unaware of the coup plot, and Athens refused to agree to insistent extradition requests from Turkish officials. In March 2021, FETÖ ringleader Fetullah Gülen sent a video message to a promotional event in Athens for a book written about him. "Greece is a sister country," Gülen said. "Thanks to this brotherhood, we remember them with gratitude and appreciation. (What Greece did) will be written with gold and silver on the glorious pages of history.”
In 2019, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu stated that although Greece was involved in the practice of "pushing back" migrants, it never sent back FETÖ members.
