By Durmus Genc

MUGLA, Turkey

A total of 144 Fetullah Terrorist Organization/Parallel State Structure (FETO/PDY) members were arrested in southwestern Mugla province between early October and Nov. 7 when they tried to enter Greece illegally.

According to information gathered by Anadolu Agency, members of the terror group were looking to escape the country using the sea route.

Police, gendarme and coast guard teams in Mugla continue to make efforts to arrest the suspects.

Some of the suspects held were former employees of Turkish Armed Forces and Telecommunication and Communication, also known as the TIB.

Hamza D., one of the arrested suspects who used to work at TIB, was also accused of being a "member of an armed terror organization" and "disrupting, annihilating and making inaccessible the data in information systems and placing data on the system".

Some other suspects were accused of using the smartphone app, ByLock, which FETO members reportedly used.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 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.