ISTANBUL, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday issued detention warrants for at least 51 police officers over their alleged links to a group blamed for a coup bid in 2016.

The Haberturk daily said simultaneous operations were launched in 26 provinces across the country to catch the suspects on the orders of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

In a separate operation in the capital city of Ankara, police are hunting for at least 12 suspects working with public and private enterprises.

Ankara accuses Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Turkish cleric, and his network of orchestrating the July 2016 putsch, in which 250 people were killed, and has been pushing for his extradition.