ISTANBUL, 08 December, 2020, (TON): Turkish prosecutors issued on Tuesday detention warrants for 304 military personnel over their alleged links to a network believed to be behind a coup attempt in 2016.

Large-scaled operations were launched by Police in 50 provinces to capture the suspects, including 295 soldiers on active duty, upon the order of the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Izmir, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.

It said so far, 198 of them have been detained in simultaneous operations.

All those targeted in operations have alleged connections with the network headed by the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, Anadolu added.

On July 15, 2016, a faction within the Turkish military moved to take control of the capital Ankara and Istanbul, leaving several hundred people dead and many more wounded. Mass arrests and purges within the government followed as government blamed Gülen for the coup attempt, in which 250 people were killed and demanded his extradition from the United States. The Gülen movement is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey.