Turkish prosecutors in Ankara issued detention warrants for 33 former employees of TÜBİTAK, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey, over alleged use of the ByLock messaging application, according to an August 15, 2017 report by Kronos news website.
The operation was based in Ankara and covered six provinces.
All 33 suspects had previously been dismissed from their jobs, the report said.
Detention procedures began on the morning of August 15.
Turkish authorities have treated alleged use of ByLock as evidence of Gülen movement affiliation in post-coup investigations.
Ankara blames the coup attempt on the Gülen movement, a transnational civic initiative inspired by Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, and designates the movement as a terrorist organization. The movement denies involvement in the coup or any terrorist activity.
