A group of Turks who reached a Greek island by dinghy from Turkey are seeking political asylum in Greece, authorities in Athens said Tuesday. The 17 were reportedly Turkish civil servants and their families who fled a government crackdown in the wake of a failed 2016 coup. The coast guard said the Turks, including six children, were found Monday on the eastern Aegean Sea island of Oinousses, and taken to the nearby island of Chios where a refugee center is located. Turkey has arrested more than 50,000 people since the failed coup and fired at least 110,000 others from government jobs. They were suspected of links to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey blames for the coup.

Source: ABC News February 20, 2018 11:48 UTC