ANKARA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Turkish prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 20 suspects over their alleged links to a network orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016, the Chief Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday.

The suspects were allegedly linked to the Gulen movement, which the Turkish government accuses of infiltrating the state bureaucracy and attempting the coup on July 15, 2016.

Eleven of the suspects were still serving in the public sector, according to the office's statement. The suspects were found in contact with the group's senior members infiltrated into the public sector through public payphones, it said.

The police has launched simultaneous operations in four provinces to seize them.

Ankara accuses U.S.-based Fethullah Gulen of masterminding the attempted coup in 2016 which led to the death of at least 250 people.

Ankara requests the extradition of Gulen, but Washington declined, citing that Ankara has not presented sufficient evidence against the self-exiled Islamic cleric.

The Turkish government has launched a massive crackdown on suspects with links to the network in the aftermath of the coup attempt. Enditem

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