As part of Turkey’s ongoing purge against the real and perceived sympathizers of the Gülen movement, arrests warrants were issued for 60 previously dismissed officer as 17 officers were arrested in a separate operation.
Both the detention warrants and arrests took place citing the use of a smart phone application named ByLock as it is considered a secret messaging system among Gülen movement sympathizers although it was available for all on the internet.
The police officers were arrested in province of Mersin as detention warrants issued across Turkey.
Over 135,000 people, including thousands within the military, have been purged due to their real or alleged connection to the Gülen movement since the coup attempt, according to a statement by the labor minister on Jan. 10.
As of March 23, in Turkey 94,982 people were being held without charge, with an additional 47,128 in pre-trial detention due to their alleged links to the movement. A total of 7,317 academics were purged as well as 4,272 judges and prosecutors who were dismissed due to alleged involvements in the July 15 coup attempt.