Ten suspects have been arrested in an operation launched on May 11 as part of an investigation by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Thirty-four suspects allegedly affiliated with the Gülen Movement, which is accused of conducting the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 operations in a purported attempt to topple the government, had detention warrants issued against them and 17 suspects were referred to court with a demand for their arrest. Out of the 17 suspects, 10 have been arrested and seven were released on condition of a judicial check.

Simultaneous operations were launched in 16 provinces on Monday on an order by the prosecutor's office. Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor Alparslan Karabay ordered the detention of 34 suspects, 25 of whom have so far been detained on charges of illegal wiretapping. Seventeen of the suspects who had a detention warrant issued for them are reportedly police chiefs and the rest are officers.

The operation was reportedly launched on a tip an inspector from the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), Ali Rıza Karakan, and the head of the institution's second chamber, Mehmet Yılmaz, after they completed an investigation on the matter.

There have been many charges targeting members of the Gülen Movement since its alleged attempt to oust the government became public with the operations it purportedly carried out on Dec. 17 and Dec. 25. It has been accused of trying to topple the elected government by exploiting the authority of its members in key government institutions such as the judiciary, the Telecommunications Directorate and police, which they had allegedly infiltrated concealing their loyalty to the movement.