ByLock, a communication app that offers top-notch encryption for its users, might have been developed by members of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) who infiltrated the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), said Faruk Özlü, the minister of Science, Industry and Technology. He said that the ministry has discovered concrete evidence that the encrypted app, which is mostly used by Gülenists, was developed by former TÜBİTAK employees who have been discharged from the institution due to FETÖ links. "It is an application via which 215,000 people communicate. We believe that this app was developed by some of the Gülenist TÜBİTAK members," he added.

So far 527 civil servants have been dismissed from the Science, Industry and Technology Ministry and 167 of the dismissed officers were employed in TÜBİTAK. "We are currently investigating whether there are any members of this terrorist cult within TÜBİTAK. We discharged the people on whom we find evidence linking them to FETÖ. There is still a group of people that we are not totally certain about their connection with the cult. We are working on these procedures right now," said Minister Özlü. He also said that the ministry has been working on the scholarships given by TÜBİTAK and said: "The scholarships of some were cut off without a reason. We are also investigating this situation. The payments of the scholarships that were stopped for a while following the attempted coup will began shortly."

Özlü further said that 73 medals out of the total 92 medals in the Science Olympics in 2010 were handed out to students who were studying at FETÖ-related schools.