Better call Gulen: Turkish law-firm accused of 'coup connections'

Eighteen Turkish lawyers have been accused of their alleged involvement in the July coup to overthrow the Erdogan government.

The Ahenk Law Association was targeted as part of an undercover police sting operation, which used secret cameras and messages retrieved from the hacked messaging app, ByLock, to prove the group's alleged links to Fethullah Gulen's "terror organisation".

Mersin's Public Prosecutor, Talip Akgedik, presented a 106-page indictment to high law court in Mersin on Monday.

The Ahenk Law Association was a practicing law firm based in Bursa and was closed in July as part of a national crackdown against supporters of an armed coup, sometimes referred to as "Erdogan's purges".

Around 100,000 people have either been arrested or fired in Turkey since July, as authorities look to expel any anti-establishment elements.

Evidence presented in the indictment includes messages retrieved from ByLock, which the Turkish authorities were able to hack and identify thousands of members of alleged underground organisations.

According to these messages, various members of the law association were allegedly using code names and behaving in a discreet and 'confidential' way.