Turkey detains 73 academics in ongoing post-coup crackdown

Turkish authorities on Friday detained 73 academicians from the Yildiz Technical University in Istanbul as part of an ongoing crackdown launched in the wake of a failed coup in July, local media reported.

Istanbul prosecutors issued warrants for the detention of 103 academics from the university, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Of them, 73 have been detained by police, it added.

Press reports said some suspects were accused of using the so-called Bylock messaging App adopted by an outlawed organization led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who was accused of masterminding the coup attempt on July 15.

More than 40,000 people have been detained in the ongoing investigation, with some 80,000 others removed from public office in the purges. Endit