Court documents released by the US Justice Department in the Jeffrey Epstein case include an unverified allegation that minors may have been transported from Turkey as part of Epstein’s abuse network, Turkish Minute reported.
The allegation was brought to public attention by Turkish opposition lawmaker Turhan Çömez, who shared the filing on social media. Çömez is deputy chair of the İYİ Party’s parliamentary group.
In a post on Monday Çömez said the documents showed that “minor girls from Turkey were taken to the abuse island,” referring to Epstein’s private Caribbean island, and claimed the children “had difficulty because they did not speak English.”
“This is a horrific crime against humanity,” Çömez said.
The court filing cited by Çömez, linked to litigation over the handling of Epstein’s 2008 non-prosecution agreement, says that “upon information and belief” Epstein “transported minor girls from Turkey, the Czech Republic, Asia, and numerous other countries, many of whom spoke no English.”
The document does not identify the alleged victims or provide details on how the alleged transportation occurred. The claims have not been verified by investigators or courts.
Çömez also said he had previously submitted information on international child abuse networks to then-interior minister Abdülkadir Aksu and that some suspects were arrested as a result, without providing further details.
Previous allegations
Turkey has been mentioned before in Epstein-related court records. Documents unsealed in January 2024 showed that Adriana Ross, questioned in legal proceedings tied to Epstein, was asked whether she was aware that Epstein had brought underage girls from Turkey and the Czech Republic. Ross invoked her right to remain silent and refused to answer.
Çömez raised the issue at the time as well, telling Deutsche Welle Turkish that the allegations related to the period between 2002 and 2005 and that Turkish authorities had not responded to his parliamentary questions.
“Those years saw a high level of child abuse in Turkey. I cannot establish a direct link between those operations and the Epstein case — there is no data. But it is essential to clarify whether children were trafficked,” Çömez said at the time.
Missing children debate
While no direct link has been established between the Epstein allegations and missing-children cases in Turkey, the claims have reignited public debate over child disappearances.
According to judicial statistics cited in the Turkish media, 104,531 children were reported missing between 2008 and 2016. Most were later found, but detailed figures on how many remain missing have not been publicly released in recent years.
Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş denied claims that children went missing after massive earthquakes in February 2023, saying “not a single one of our 1,912 children is missing.”
More than 53,000 people died in the twin earthquakes that year, while many others went missing.
She did not address allegations related to the children that allegedly went missing following the 1999 earthquake in the Marmara region which claimed the lives of more than 18,000 people.
Epstein case and latest developments
Epstein was accused of sexually abusing minors and operating a sex trafficking network. He was found dead in a New York jail in 2019.
His former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of recruiting minors for Epstein’s abuse network and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law in November, requiring the Justice Department to release unclassified records related to Epstein and Maxwell. The first batch of documents was published on December 19, though many files were heavily redacted. US officials have said additional releases are expected.
The documents reference numerous public figures who had some form of association with Epstein. None have been charged with wrongdoing in connection with the case.
