Ankara police have detained 11 people working in several Turkish banks over their alleged use of a mobile phone messaging app used by the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), prosecutors said Thursday.
They are among the 20 employees of Turkey’s Central Bank, Asya Bank, Iller Bank and Kalkinma Bank, against who the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a detention decision, for suspected ties to FETÖ, which the Turkish government accuses of orchestrating last July’s coup.
They are all accused of using the ByLock app, which Turkey has said was used extensively by FETÖ members.
The app is believed to have been cracked by Turkish security agencies before the coup, prompting the plotters to switch to the WhatsApp messaging service but not before tens of thousands of FETÖ suspects were identified.
The 20 suspects have been fired from their jobs.
In a separate operation led by the Ankara police, 42 military officials were arrested for alleged links to FETÖ, of which 17 were taken into custody.
The operation was spread across 25 provinces, including Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Erzurum and Malatya.
On May 31, the prosecutor’s office had issued arrest warrants against 60 soldiers, who were on duty at the Turkish Military Academy on the night of the coup.
The July 15 coup attempt, which was masterminded by U.S.- based Fetullah Gülen, saw 250 people martyred and 2,200 wounded.
Ankara accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
In the wake of the coup attempt, tens of thousands of FETÖ suspects have been arrested, including many in the armed forces, police, the judicial system, and education and business sectors.
