Ankara Police Department's counterterrorism units launched an operation on Friday as part of an investigation into illegal wiretapping of government officials, which includes arrest warrants for 46 suspects believed to have alleged links to the Gülenist (FETÖ) Terror Organization.

Arrests were made during the operation, which was conducted simultaneously in 23 provinces.

Eighteen people alleged to have illegally wiretapped hundreds of Turkish officials, politicians and journalists.

Anti-terror police from Ankara led a broad operation across 23 provinces, including Samsun, Kastamonu, Mus and Van, at the request of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor, security sources told Anadolu Agency.

Suspects are accused of illegally wiretapping the communications of 432 people, including businessmen, journalists and politicians from the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.

Opposition parties, members of the Turkish armed forces, the Energy Market Regulatory Authority, police and Constitutional Court are also said to have been wire-tapped.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor issued arrest warrants for 46 people, some of which are abroad and some already in jail as part of previous investigations.

Among the 18 arrested on Friday, there is a branch director of Bingol's police department and five police chiefs from Van.

Those arrested will be handed over to the Ankara police department following health checks and procedures at police departments in their respective provinces.

The Gülen Movement, led by Fethullah Gülen who lives in self-imposed exile in rural Pennsylvania in the U.S., is accused of conspiring against the Turkish state, wiretapping thousands of people, including government officials and encrypted phones. The movement has been labeled a threat against Turkey's national security.

Government officials have continuously expressed their determination to continue to lawfully fight the Gülen Movement, whose followers are accused of infiltrating state institutions to gain control of state mechanisms, illegal wiretapping, forgery of official documents and spying.