Zeki Güven, a former Turkish police intelligence chief arrested on charges of links to the Gülen network, one of the masterminds of the failed 2016 coup attempt, has died of a heart attack in jail.
Zeki Güven and his wife, Sevda Güven, a former judge, were arrested at a shopping mall in the western Eskişehir province in June. Sevda Güven was also sought by the authorities for her links to the Gülen network.
Güven's notoriety stemmed from accusations he played a key role in a scandal that brought down the longstanding leader of the parliamentary main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, in 2010.
According to the indictment, the suspects installed audio and video recorders in 12 different addresses, targeting 24 individuals. Baykal was among the targets, with footage emerging of him in flagrante delicto with a former CHP deputy.
Baykal stepped down in same year after a video circulated on the internet purportedly showing him conducting an affair with a married female MP from his party.
Güven was believed to be one of the high-ranking members of the CIA-linked Gülen network, led by U.S-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, organized within the police force.
The US-based Islamic preacher, Fethullah Gülen, had been a close ally of Erdoğan's AKP government. Gülen network, which had been organised in the police, judiciary, military and the other states institutions, helping Erdoğan to redesign and install his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) in power in 2002. But his alliance with the AKP has faltered in recent years. On 15 July 2016, the network of Gülen, which is also an Islamic cult, attempted to topple down Erdoğan by a military coup but it failed.
After the failed coup attempt, the government officially started to deem the network as a terrorist organization and named it "Fethullahist Terrorist Organization [FETÖ]".
Most of the AKP members, who were strongly tied to Gülen network, are appointed to the critical missions of the public institutions and even ministries.
