English-language teacher intercepted while escaping from Turkey to Greece

English-language teacher, identified by his initials S.B., was intercepted in a restricted military area near Turkey’s Greek border in Edirne province, media reported Monday.

S.B. used to work at a private school that was closed down over its ties to the Gulen movement in the aftermath of the July 15, 2016 failed coup. The teacher was reportedly sneak into Greece in order to escape persecution in Turkey.

Thousands of people have fled Turkey due to a massive witch-hunt launched by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government against sympathizers of the Gülen movement in the wake of a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016. The government accuses the movement of masterminding the coup while the latter denies involvement.

More than 150,000 people have been detained and some 90,000 including academics, judges, doctors, teachers, lawyers, students, policemen and many from different backgrounds have been put in pre-trial detention since last summer.

Many tried to escape Turkey via illegal ways as the government cancelled their passports like thousands of others.

On July 19, a woman and her three children died after a boat carrying a group of Turkish asylum seekers capsized in the Evros River while seeking to escape the post-coup crackdown in Turkey.