Two high-profile Turkish prosecutors have reportedly arrived in Armenia as they escaped a government crackdown on opponents of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency said Tuesday that Zekeriya Oz and Celal Kara fled Turkey to Georgia and then crossed into Armenia after they purportedly became aware of arrest warrants issued against them.

The escape came hours before Istanbul prosecutor's office ordered the arrest of the two along another former prosecutor identified as Mehmet Yuzgec. The three were wanted on accusations of “forming an organization to commit crime” and “attempting to overthrow the government by force.”

Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper said that Ankara has called on Georgia to extradite them, but a later statement by the governor of Artvin Province said that Oz and Kara had crossed into Armenia.

“Oz and Kara left Turkey via [Artvin's] Sarp Border Gate [with Georgia] at 3:46 a.m. [0046 GMT], and 04:19 a.m. Monday, respectively, long before the arrest order,” Kemal Cirit said in the statement, adding that they “later crossed into neighboring Armenia.”

The three judges were all involved in a controversial graft investigation in 2013 which targeted the then prime minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan along with senior leaders of the AKP Party. The judiciary officials were suspended in December 2014 and then disqualified in May 2015 with government officials saying they have damaged the honor of their profession and the reputation of their public position.

From the very beginning of the probe into Erdogan’s inner circle, he denounced the move as a “dirty plot” orchestrated by his old friend and current rival Fatullah Gulen, a revered preacher who is based in the United States.

Authorities have already dismissed thousands of police and judiciary forces on accusations that they are linked to Gulen. Erdogan has vowed no mercy in the fight against Gulen and his followers.

During the recent parliamentary elections in June, the AKP failed to gain an outright majority for the first time since it came to power in 2002.