Turkish police on Friday arrested 10 alleged members of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which is behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt, as part of an investigation into the terror group's infiltration into the naval forces command. The arrests came after prosecutors in Ankara, the Turkish capital, issued arrest warrants for 12 suspects for using ByLock, the terror group's encrypted smartphone messaging app, and for communicating via pay phones with other members of the organization. Among the suspects were retired, dismissed, suspended and on active-duty soldiers. The arrests were made in various provinces including Ankara, and operations continue to arrest the remaining two other suspects. FETÖ, known for its secretive methods of communication, utilized everything from in-game chats in mobile games to pay phones to convey messages between its members. ByLock is the most well-known app used by FETÖ members; its use was discovered before the 2016 coup attempt. Authorities deciphered ByLock messages, revealing secret messages pointing to an imminent coup in operations after the putsch bid. The Interior Ministry announced that 4,676 new ByLock users were detected through an investigation that had already identified more than 95,000 users. More than 79,337 people faced legal charges in ByLock investigations.
Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.
You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
