Warrants out for ministry staff over alleged Gülen links

ANKARA

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued detention warrants for 101 personnel from the Finance Ministry and 32 personnel from the Ministry of Labor and Security on Oct. 5, as part of the probe into the Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), accused of being behind the July 2016 coup attempt, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Of the total 133 ministry personnel who have detention warrants, only four were reported to be on active duty.

The suspects are accused of using the ByLock mobile messaging application, the users of which are suspected of being linked to the Gülen network.

The prosecutor’s office stated that the Ankara-based probe was being conducted throughout 11 provinces.

The ByLock smartphone app is believed to have been cracked by Turkish security agencies, allowing them to identify tens of thousands of suspected FETÖ supporters.