Turkey conducts anti-FETO operations in universities and institutions

Prosecutors on Monday issued warrants for the detention of 115 people in anti-FETO operations in Istanbul and Ankara.

The warrants were issued during an investigation into the activities of the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of orchestrating the attempted coup on July 15, which claimed 250 lives, and left more than 2000 wounded, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Some 72 academics from two universities, Bogazici and Medeniyet, who were accused of being involved in FETO-linked activities, were detained by the police.

It reported that eight of the 72 staff were from Bogazici University, including academic Koray Caliskan, who had worked as a voluntary adviser to the Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the current leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP)

The other 64 people who were detained were from Medeniyet University, 19 of whom were medical faculty professors, Anadolu Agency reported that all were under suspicion for using ByLock, an encrypted messaging app the government claims was used extensively by Gulen's followers.

Meanwhile in Ankara, the attorney issued a warrant for the detention of 43 people at institutions that fall under the office of the Prime Minister.

Officials said six of them were on duty while the rest were previously suspended after the coup attempt.

In a recent article in The Guardian newspaper a Turkish official was quoted as saying that Turkey's intelligence agency was able to track down almost 40,000 undercover Gulenist operatives – including 600 military personnel – through their use of the ByLock app. r