A total of 65 civilians, including businessmen and housewives, were detained on Saturday as part of ongoing post-coup witch hunt targeting the alleged followers of the Gülen movement over their alleged use of smart phone application, known as ByLock.
According to pro-gov’t Sabah daily, the operations, which were based in the western province of İzmir, were conducted across 28provinces, including Ankara, Manisa, Konya, and İstanbul.
Turkish authorities believe ByLock is a communication tool between members of the Gülen movement. Tens of thousands of civil servants, police officers and businessmen have either been dismissed or arrested for allegedly using ByLock since a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
1515 CIVILIANS JAILED IN ANTALYA SINCE JULY 15, 2016
Meanwhile, the governor’s office in Antalya has announced on Friday that a total of 1,515 people have been arrested as part of post-coup witch hunt targeting the Gülen movement since July 15, 2016. The majority of the arrestees are from the education and police departments and includes academics from Antalya Akdeniz University as well.
Over 135,000 people, including thousands within the military, have been purged over their alleged links to the Gülen movement since the coup attempt. As of March 23, 94,982 people were being held without charge, with an additional 47,128 in pre-trial detention over their alleged links to the movement. A total of 7,317 academics were also purged as well as 4,272 judges and prosecutors, who were dismissed due to alleged involvement in the July 15 coup attempt. (SCF with turkeypurge.com)
