ANKARA

Turkey has so far identified over 25,000 users of ByLock, an encrypted messaging app used by members of a terror group to communicate, the country's interior minister said on Saturday.

Some 25,149 ByLock IDs were revealed, Suleyman Soylu said in the capital Ankara.

Related chief public prosecutor offices were notified about 7,694 people, including 1,387 active duty personnel, he added.

Soylu said 2,341 people, including 679 on duty personnel, were in contact with members of the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) without downloading the app on their phones.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup on July 15, 2016, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary. 

*Writing by Gozde Bayar