ANKARA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Turkey's capital Ankara on Thursday issued detention warrants for 70 former employees of the Finance Ministry over alleged links to last year's failed coup attempt.
The suspects are accused of using the ByLock mobile app, which was allegedly used by Gulen Movement supporters during the deadly coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the office said in a statement.
The office said that police have launched arrest operations against the detainees in five provinces early Thursday and the operations were ongoing.
Turkey accused U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has been living in the United States since 1999, of orchestrating the abortive putsch in July 2016. Gulen has denied involvement and condemned the coup attempt.
More than 50,000 people have been arrested over suspected links to Gulen since the coup attempt, with hundreds of generals sacked or jailed.
On July 15, 2016, coup plotters blocked roads and bombed state institutions before the attempted takeover was thwarted with the help of citizens resisting putschist soldiers on the streets. At least 250 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured during the bloody coup attempt.
