Prosecutor issues detention warrant for 85 education, energy ministries staff in coup attempt probe, nearly 40 detained

The Ankara Public Prosecutor's Office on May 16 ordered the detention of 85 staff from the energy and education ministries in an investigation into the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), which is believed to have been behind the July 2016 failed coup attempt, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported. 

Some 60 of the detention warrants were for Energy Ministry personnel and related institutions, while the other 25 were for the Education Ministry, the agency said.

Almost 40 of the suspects have been detained in operations so far and were taken to police headquarters.

The suspects were reportedly users of ByLock, an encrypted smartphone messaging application used by followers of the Gülen Movement, with most of them being former ministry staff who had previously been dismissed from their duties.

Some 50,000 people have been arrested in court cases launched into supporters of the U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, the leader of the movement. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to push for Gülen's extradition in his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on May 16.

Mass detentions were initially supported by many Turks after the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt, in which soldiers commandeered warplanes to bomb parliament and used tanks to kill 240 people.

But criticism mounted as the arrests widened, with relatives of many of those detained or sacked denying their involvement in the coup attempt.

A total of some 150,000 people, mainly civil servants, security personnel and academics have been suspended or dismissed after the attempted takeover.