ISTANBUL, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Turkish police detained Monday at least 66 suspects over their alleged links to a network believed to be behind a failed coup in 2016, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.

A seagull stays on a street light as the Sulemaniye mosque is seen in the background, in Istanbul, on February 23, 2021. (File photo: AFP)

Police forces launched simultaneous operations to several addresses deemed to be used as cell houses by the members of the group in the western province of Izmir, it said.

During the raids, the teams detained 31 suspects and seized over 180,000 U.S. dollars in cash and many digital materials, it added.

Anadolu said the police believed the cash would be distributed to the group's members in jail and those who are fugitives.

At a separate investigation conducted by the prosecutors in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa, police units detained 35 suspects, including police officers, soldiers, and public officials, over their alleged links to the network, according to press reports.

The network, headed by the U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, was blamed by the Turkish government for masterminding the coup bid in July 2016, in which 250 people were killed.