President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey

Turkish Authorities have arrested 11 of 20 bank employees who were being sought over suspected links to 2016’s failed coup, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday.

All 20 are employees of different banks, including the country’s central bank, and are suspected of using an encrypted messaging app called ByLock, according to Anadolu.

The government considered the app to be a key communication network among followers of U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom it accused of masterminding an abortive coup on July 15, 2016.

Gulen denies all charges.

The government earlier claimed it had decoded emails sent through ByLock to allegedly coordinate the coup attempt.

Turkey is under a state of emergency, enacted after the failed coup, which grants the authorities sweeping powers.

Some 50,000 people are in jail in Turkey over alleged coup links.

(dpa/NAN)