Court releases suspended academic, teacher bound for Greece after escape attempt

A local court in the northwestern border province of Edirne ordered the release of an academic and a teacher, who were suspended from their duties as part of the ongoing probe into the July 15 failed coup attempt, after they attempted to escape to Greece illegally from the province's Uzunkörpü district on Sept. 11, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Police units conducted an operation upon intelligence that two suspects were preparing to cross into Greece.
Associate Prof. Hakan Akın, who was suspended from his duty at Marmara University's Medical Faculty on July 25, and literature teacher Şenel Özdemir, who was suspended from Sancaktepe High School in Istanbul on Aug. 1, were detained in the operation. They were accused of going abroad illegally.

Akın and Şenel were both suspended from their duties as part of the investigation into the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), which was accused of staging the failed takeover.

The duo paid a total of 12,500 euros in Istanbul to arrange their escape to Greece by crossing the Maritsa River that runs along the border, the agency said.

Police also seized an air raft, an oar and a pump while detaining the suspects.

An Edirne court later ordered the release of the two while another two suspects, identified as M.B. and B.B., who organized the escape attempt, were arrested.
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