ISTANBUL, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday issued detention warrants for 170 people over their suspected links with a failed coup in 2016, state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

The police launched operations in 38 provinces to arrest the suspects including soldiers, noting that 22 of them were captured in the morning.

The wanted soldiers include those who have retired, been suspended and in service.

All those have reportedly contacted imams, who are believed to be senior figures in a network led by the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, by payphones and landlines.

Ankara accuses the Gulen network of orchestrating a failed coup in July 2016 which left 250 dead.

More than 150,000 have been dismissed or suspended from their posts while over 55,000 others arrested in the ongoing investigation and crackdown, press reports said.