Gülenists developed ByLock before election of judges, prosecutors in 2014: Report
ANKARA
Followers of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen reportedly developed the smartphone app ByLock, which came to prominence after the attempted July 15 coup due to the coup plotters’ usage of the app, before the elections of Turkey’s Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) in 2014. The Gülenist network, which is believed to have orchestrated the failed seizure of government, aimed to assert its dominance in the HSYK after “not being able to reach its aims in December 2013 coup probes that targeted senior government figures,” daily Habertürk reported on Oct. 3.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused the Gülenists of leading the December 2013 graft probe.
It was previously determined that the ByLock app, an encrypted messaging service, was developed by Gülenists in the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK).
The app was reportedly developed for the HSYK elections on Oct. 12, 2014, as the Gülenists perceived it as a “struggle for existence.” Many followers of Gülen were mobilized for the aforementioned elections, according to the daily.
ByLock then became more common among the Gülenists and was often used by the coup plotters in order to communicate, according to allegations.
A person, identified only as İ.T., among the team that developed the app was previously detained as part of the probe launched by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office.
Meanwhile, it was determined that the people involved in the Public Personnel Selection Examination (KPSS) investigation were also among the ByLock users.
Questions from the “fraudulent” Public Personnel Selection Exam (KPSS) in 2010, which was taken by 808,000 Turkish citizens seeking to become civil servants, was initially leaked to Gülen, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has previously said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused the Gülenists of leading the December 2013 graft probe.
It was previously determined that the ByLock app, an encrypted messaging service, was developed by Gülenists in the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK).
The app was reportedly developed for the HSYK elections on Oct. 12, 2014, as the Gülenists perceived it as a “struggle for existence.” Many followers of Gülen were mobilized for the aforementioned elections, according to the daily.
ByLock then became more common among the Gülenists and was often used by the coup plotters in order to communicate, according to allegations.
A person, identified only as İ.T., among the team that developed the app was previously detained as part of the probe launched by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office.
Meanwhile, it was determined that the people involved in the Public Personnel Selection Examination (KPSS) investigation were also among the ByLock users.
Questions from the “fraudulent” Public Personnel Selection Exam (KPSS) in 2010, which was taken by 808,000 Turkish citizens seeking to become civil servants, was initially leaked to Gülen, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has previously said.
