Seven members of a Turkish family were detained in İzmir province while they were allegedly on their way to escape to Greece early on Tuesday.

According to the OdaTV.com news portal media, acting on a tip-off, the police detained the family minutes before they embark on the dangerous journey to Greek islands by Eagan sea.

The detainees are as follows: Meryem Ç. (36), Levent Ç. (40), Filiz Ö. (46), Mustafa A. (57), Selahattin Ş. (29), Aziz T. (35), Zekeriya T. (51), Mehmet Emin Ö. (13).

The detainees are assused of having links to the Gülen movement, which is accused by Turkish government of masterminding a coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

Since the coup attempt on July 15, Turkey has turned into a hub of people victimized by the purge carried out by the Turkish government. The ruling party of Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused the Gülen movement of masterminding the coup attempt and launched a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.

The movement denies any involvement.