Operations have begun against the “Gülen Movement-member” employees of the Ministries of Development and National Education of Turkey, and of the Ankara Metropolitan City Hall of the capital city.  

The respective Ankara Prosecutor’s Office statement noted that, along the lines of the investigation into the members of the aforesaid movement, operations began, on Wednesday morning, to detain persons using the ByLock smartphone messaging application, which is considered the means of communication between the members of the Gülen Movement, according to Cumhuriyet (Republic) daily of Turkey.

An arrest warrant was issued for 120 state employees, 60 of whom are working at the Ankara Metropolitan City Hall, 30—at the Ministry of Development, and another 30 employees—at the Ministry of National Education.

The Gülen Movement is led by US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, and Ankara accuses him and his movement of orchestrating the coup attempt in Turkey, in July 2016.