Authorities on Monday detained 10 people who worked at an Istanbul prison where a former top intelligence official was incarcerated in 2011. The death of Kaşif Kozinoğlu, who worked for the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), is being treated as suspicious. At the same time, media outlets reported that investigators are looking into the suspects’ alleged links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
Kozinoğlu, a former major who worked as the MIT’s chief adviser for Central Asia before his arrest in 2011, was detained as part of the far-reaching Ergenekon investigations. Ergenekon was the name given to an alleged “deep state” network by prosecutors, but subsequent investigations and trials found that FETÖ infiltrators had orchestrated the probe within the judiciary and law enforcement. Kozinoğlu’s death at the time was attributed to a heart attack after he reportedly exercised excessively at the prison in Istanbul’s Silivri district.
Most of the suspects detained on Monday were prison guards who worked at Silivri prison while Kozinoğlu was held there. Another suspect remains at large. The Sabah newspaper identified the fugitive suspect as Ferhat Veysi Gül. A report published by Sabah on Monday said Gül was the sole guard in charge of Kozinoğlu’s ward and deliberately ignored an emergency call from the ward on the day Kozinoğlu died.
