Turkish authorities yesterday issued detention warrants for 106 people believed to have worked as matchmakers for a network accused of orchestrating last year's failed military coup, a spokesman for the Istanbul police said.

Sixty-two of the suspects had been detained in the operation centered in Istanbul and spread over 20 other provinces, he said. Operations to locate the rest were ongoing.

The suspects were "marriage officials" for supporters of the U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who the Turkish government says was behind the failed July 2016 coup, the spokesman said. Gulen denies any involvement in the coup attempt.

They were believed to have helped set up arranged marriages for some of Gulen's followers, he said.