Germany, home to many members of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) wanted by Türkiye is now home to another prominent name affiliated with the group. The Sabah newspaper tracked Cevheri Güven to Babenhausen, a town in the country’s state of Hesse.
Güven, nicknamed the “Goebbels of FETÖ” (after the notorious Nazi propagandist) for his work promoting the terrorist group, is known for his smear campaigns targeting Türkiye, its bureaucrats and politicians. He fled Türkiye after FETÖ’s military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 was foiled and first took residence in Greece, another country known for harboring terrorists sought by Türkiye. It was known that he left for Germany from Greece but his exact whereabouts were unknown, until an investigation by the Sabah newspaper.
The newspaper reported that Güven and his family live in a two-floor home in Babenhausen and use the house to shoot his social media videos.
Güven apparently took residence in the town three years ago and released his first propaganda video on Oct. 23, 2019. Since then, he posted 253 more videos promoted on websites affiliated with the terrorist group.
A journalist, Güven rose to prominence after setting up a news website affiliated with the terrorist group in 2014. He later served as editor-in-chief of a news magazine. An indictment by Turkish prosecutors who seek 15 years in prison for Güven on charges of membership of a terrorist group, says he was involved in creating FETÖ propaganda under the guise of journalism.
His name also appeared in the infamous FETÖ “videotape plot.” The indictment against him says Güven was tasked by the terrorist group with distributing sex tapes of former Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairperson Deniz Baykal and senior figures of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) that were secretly taken by suspects linked to FETÖ. He is currently among 46 defendants in the trial over the plot, who are at large. In a previous hearing in April, a court in the capital Ankara sentenced 44 defendants associated with FETÖ to various prison terms for their role in the plot which derailed the political career of Baykal and others. Baykal has stepped down as head of the main opposition CHP.
