Istanbul 11th Criminal Court of Peace issued detention warrants early Saturday for 530 high-ranking soldiers, including 280 military officers and 250 sergeants for suspected links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and using ByLock, an encrypted communication application that was used by FETÖ members for internal communication. The warrants have been issued as part of the ongoing coup probe on suspected FETÖ members.

Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office said in a statement later that 53 soldiers have been detained so far in the Istanbul-based simultaneous operations which have been launched in 57 provinces.

Bylock is a smartphone app which was used by Gülenists for secretive communications between 2013 and 2015.

The members of the terror group used this communication app to keep in touch with each other for their activities, particularly in the attempted coup in July 15.

FETÖ, led by the Pennsylvania-based Fetullah Gülen, is the mastermind of the July 15 defeated coup, which left 248 people killed and nearly 2,200 injured.

The terror cult has infiltrated into Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

In the wake of the coup attempt, tens of thousands of FETÖ members have been arrested, including many in the armed forces, police, justice system and education sector for involvement in the coup attempt.