Turkey's top judicial board lays off 184 judiciary personnel for using FETÖ-linked encrypted messaging app

As part of investigations into users of Bylock, the communication application used by Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) members, 184 judiciary personnel were laid off on Thursday.

The Turkish Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) ordered that 184 judges and prosecutors be suspended for using the encrypted app.

Meanwhile, five more suspects in the secret smartphone app case linked to the July 15 coup plot were also arrested.

The suspects were detained by Ankara's Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department teams in an operation that began Wednesday morning and took place in 13 provinces. The operation is targeting a total of 215 police personnel, including 147 high-ranking officers.

An Istanbul court later on Thursday remanded 40 police officers in custody.

The suspects, who allegedly used ByLock, are accused of "being members of an armed terrorist organization."

Turkish police said 121 people had been detained across Turkey so far over using of the encrypted messaging service.

ByLock is said to have been used by members of the FETÖ, which the government has said was behind the attempted takeover, which martyred 241 people and wounded nearly 2,200 others.

The app is believed to have been cracked by Turkish security agencies before the coup, prompting the plotters to switch to the WhatsApp messaging service but not before tens of thousands of FETÖ suspects had been identified.

Turkey accuses FETÖ, which is led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, of organizing the defeated coup as well as a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.