Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the elimination of suspects with links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) has enabled public institutions to function more effectively, disagreeing with claims that the suspensions of FETÖ members have made it difficult for the state to work efficiently. "The elimination of FETÖ members has made the work easier and sped things up as opposed to more difficult and has put work on track. This is the feedback we have received from our citizens. I have not seen or heard any public work that has been delayed or suffered due to FETÖ members being suspended," President Erdoğan said during a speech at the Presidential Palace in Ankara.

After the July 15 Gülenist coup attempt, the government intensified efforts to eliminate FETÖ suspects, who had infiltrated many government institutions, including the judiciary, police, army, education and other influential sectors, aiming to overthrow the democratically elected government.

The president said during the speech that as a result of their elimination, anti-terror operations have also been more successful during the speech where he accepted the members of the Association of Judicial Unity.

"In fact, as we can see from catching the suspect behind the terror attack in Istanbul on New Year's Eve, very successful operations can be carried out in difficult conditions," the president said and added that the network's infiltration into the judiciary had made it difficult for the state to see some of the threats against the country.

ByLock investigation expands as 243 more soldiers sought

An Istanbul prosecutor issued arrest warrants for 243 Turkish military personnel over alleged links with the July 15 coup attempt, judicial sources said yesterday.

The suspects were being sought on specific accusations they were using ByLock, a secret smartphone messaging app the government says was used by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), said judicial sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

FETÖ, led by U.S.-based fugitive imam Fetullah Gülen, has been accused of orchestrating a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

Following yesterday's decision, the Istanbul Police Department's Counter-Terrorism Units launched operations across 54 provinces and detained some of the suspects, said the sources.

In an earlier decision, the public prosecutor's office also issued arrest warrants for 575 military personnel on the same allegations. Just over 350 of these suspects were detained by police.Testimonies from Gülenists in the bureaucracy detained after the July 15 putsch attempt point out the prevalence of the use of apps. Prosecutors say Bylock was popular among Gülenists for secretive communications between 2013 and 2015, and after 2015, the terror cult turned to Eagle IM, which offers "256-bit end-to-end AES encryption" for its users, according to the description on the app at the Google Play Store. 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.