Alameddine associate Murat Gulasi, 33, dies in Istanbul gym

Sydney’s underworld has been sent into a spin after the death of an Alameddine family associate at a gym in Istanbul.

Senior crime figure Murat Gulasi has died in Turkey of a suspected heart attack, just weeks after leaving the country.

The underworld has been sent into a spin after reports Gulasi, 33, passed away overseas on Friday night Sydney time.

Several sources told The Sunday Telegraph that Gulasi died while training at a gym in Istanbul.

The family’s lawyer Elias Tabchouri said Mr Gulasi has passed away as a result of a heart attack.

“Mr Gulasi was deeply loved by friends and family and will be dearly missed. The family has requested that their privacy be respected,” Mr Tabchouri said.

Murat Gulasi (right) with rapper Ali Younes.

Mr Tabchouri said Mr Gulasi did not flee Australia and at the time of his death was receiving medical treatment for a heart condition.

Gulasi’s death comes less than two weeks after he left the country over concerns there was a contract out to kill him.

“My beautiful big brother, my heart hurts. I’m lost I love you so much my akhi,” rapper and Alameddine family associate Ali Younes wrote on Instagram.

“This life isn’t going to be the same without you. Sleep well big bro I love you (to) death.”

Gulasi was the victim of a drive-by shooting in Prospect last November that saw bullets fly just inches past children in a nearby childcare centre. Several members of the rival Hamzy family have since been charged over the attack.

Gulasi had moved to Turkey in recent weeks.

Gulasi survived that shooting but sustained a wound to the leg.

Dramatic vision of the shooting shows Gulasi and a group of men desperately ducking for cover while inside bullets whiz by two toddlers and their carers.

When contacted late on Saturday afternoon, NSW Police told The Sunday Telegraph they had not received formal information about Gulasi dying.

He was one of several figures named in Serious Crime Prevention Orders at the height of the gangland war bloodshed last year.

Police sought the orders on scores of underworld associates, naming Gulasi as a high-ranking member of the Alameddine crime family.

He had also been identified in court documents as a regular visitor to a house in Auburn that had been under investigation for drug supply since 2005.

Gulasi has been labelled a “reputed criminal” on his police file given his long rap sheet.

Exiled leader of the Lone Wolves, Erkan Keskin also died of a heart attack in Turkey earlier this year.