Policija je prvo privela jednu grupu veterana nižeg ranga i pripadnike jedne kriminalne organizacije, ali se operacija proširila i obuhvatila tvrdolinijaške nacionalističke i sekularne političare, novinare i druge osumnjičene, nakon što je glavni tužilac Turske od ustavnog suda zatražio da zatvori vladajuću AKP, na osnovu toga da ona podriva sekularni sistem u Turskoj.
Police first detained a group of low-ranking veterans and members of a criminal organisation, but the operation expanded to include hard-line nationalist and secular politicians, journalists and other suspects, after Turkey's chief prosecutor asked the Constitutional Court to shut down the ruling AKP, on the grounds that it was undermining Turkey's secular system.