ANKARA, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish prosecutors on Monday issued arrest warrants for 19 suspects over their alleged ties to a network orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016.

In a statement, Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said the suspects were allegedly linked to the Gulen movement, which the Turkish government accuses of infiltrating the state bureaucracy and then attempting a coup on July 15, 2016.

The suspects were identified through their contacts with other members of the group, including their regular phone calls using public payphones, as per testimonies of eyewitnesses in investigations, according to the statement.

Ankara accuses U.S.-based Fethullah Gulen of masterminding the attempted coup in 2016, which claimed at least 250 lives.

Türkiye requested the extradition of Gulen, but Washington declined, citing that Ankara had 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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