FETÖ suspects fail to account for ByLock on their phones

A considerable number of suspects in the trial of the July 15 coup attempt in İzmir were found to have the encrypted communication application ByLock on their telephones, but all of them have argued that they had no idea that this was so.

The 270 suspects currently face charges linked to the coup attempt. The ByLock application, used exclusively by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) members, who are accused of instigating and leading the coup attempt, has been found on the phones of 50 of the suspects, according to preliminary investigations.

FETÖ's fugitive leader Fetullah Gülen, who is currently living in a huge compound in Pennsylvania, U.S., is tried in absentia as the number one suspect in many concurrent trials across the country, including the one in İzmir.

FETÖ members are known to have started using ByLock extensively in 2013 and continued to do so until 2015, when the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) cracked it. After 2015, the cult turned to Eagle IM, which offers "256-bit end-to-end AES encryption," according to the app's description on its Google Play Store page. It also revealed that the group's leader, Fetullah Gülen, used to send out instructions through the ByLock messaging app. Bylock users, who worked in state agencies, are now being investigated for possible links to FETÖ. Several suspects linked to the terror group have already confessed to using ByLock. Well over 100,000 people are known to have used ByLock.

One suspect, a naval officer until discharged, said he never heard of the application until in jail after the attempted coup, despite the fact that both of his phones had the program. Almost all of the 50 suspects with ByLock on their phones denied ever having used it or knowingly downloading it on their phones. Some experts see the almost identical defense by suspects with Bylock on their phones as a ploy by FETÖ.