Dozens were detained and operations were underway to capture scores of others in operations against the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) yesterday.The terrorist group is accused of carrying out the July 15, 2016 coup attempt that killed 250 people. Prosecutors say it employed its infiltrators in the military to overthrow the government.

In the eastern city of Batman, prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 57 military officers linked to the group, and operations were underway to capture them in 28 cities. Fourteen FETÖ suspects, including soldiers on active duty were detained in another criminal probe by prosecutors in the western city of Manisa. Suspects had links to the terrorist group's point men and contacted them secretly by payphones, prosecutors say. Ten members of the terrorist group's "secret military network" were arrested in another operation initiated by authorities in the northern city of Bayburt. Twenty-two were detained as part of a probe by prosecutors in the eastern city of Van. Suspects were accused of using ByLock, an encrypted messaging app exclusively used by FETÖ members, and all had links to now-defunct associations and labor unions run by the group's members.

Thirteen military officers were captured in operations by police upon orders of the chief prosecutor in the central city of Aksaray.

More arrest warrants for FETÖ suspects were being announced by prosecutors when Daily Sabah went to print.

In the Mediterranean city of Antalya, police raided "gaybubet (absence) houses" run by FETÖ and detained seven people. These are safe houses used to hide FETÖ fugitives. Police found a large cache of Turkish lira, euros and U.S. dollars in possession of suspects. Captured suspects include two "elder sisters," the name given to senior female members of the terrorist group.

In the western city of İzmir, police detained 17 people, including the owner of a university and a college run by the terrorist group. Both schools were closed down after the July 15 coup attempt. Five former teachers linked to FETÖ were arrested in separate operations.

FETÖ, which emerged as a security threat after two coup attempts in 2013, has experienced increased crackdowns since the coup attempt. Thousands of people were arrested or detained in the aftermath of the coup attempt, and trials opened in late 2016 for hundreds of military officers and civilians actively involved in the attempt.

With its media and business arms, the terrorist group created significant public clout, which was augmented by infiltration of state institutions, principally the judiciary, police and military. Many of its senior members fled abroad on the eve of, or soon after, the 2016 insurrection bid

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