Rezan Epözdemir, a Turkish lawyer known for representing clients in several high-profile murder and fraud cases, has been arrested on charges of “acting as an intermediary in bribery,” Turkish Minute reported Thursday.
Epözdemir, 41, was taken into custody August 10 in İstanbul as part of two separate investigations led by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Prosecutors cited allegations of bribery, aiding the faith-based Gülen movement, which Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) designates as a terrorist organization, and political and military espionage.
The bribery allegations are based on testimony from a witness identified only by the initials A.D., along with WhatsApp messages and mobile location data. Prosecutors allege that in 2021 Epözdemir along with a prosecutor accepted $150,000 from a man called C.Ç., split between before and after securing his release from detention. Two of the three alleged bribery incidents involved his clients, prompting a separation of case files to meet legal requirements for investigating lawyers in Turkey.
Details of the terrorism-related accusation remain unclear, though Turkish media have linked it to old photographs and recorded conversations. Ankara blames the Gülen movement for a failed coup in 2016, a claim the movement denies and which is not recognized internationally.
The İstanbul Criminal Court of Peace ordered Epözdemir’s arrest on bribery charges but rejected prosecutors’ request for a travel ban linked to the terrorism allegations. A second suspect, a court clerk identified as K.Y., was released under “effective remorse” provisions after cooperating with authorities.
Epözdemir has denied the charges, calling them a “plot” orchestrated by another lawyer with whom he clashed in a high profile fraud case involving Denizbank in which he represents some of the alleged victims. The lawyer he accuses of instigating the investigation once represented the bank’s managers. Epözdemir claims the rival lawyer secured a decision of non-prosecution for the bank executives but that, after a change in the prosecutor’s office, charges were filed against them for fraud, allegedly prompting a smear campaign against Epözdemir in November 2024.
He further alleges that social media posts linking him to people described in the press as “Mossad and CIA agents” were part of the same campaign. Epözdemir says prosecutors previously closed a separate investigation into those claims with a decision of non-prosecution.
A graduate of Marmara University’s law faculty, Epözdemir has represented the families of Münevver Karabulut, murdered by his boyfriend in 2009; university student Pınar Gültekin, killed in 2020; and victims of Turkey’s 2023 earthquakes. He is currently representing the family of Mattia Ahmet Minguzzi, a 16-year-old Italian-Turkish youth stabbed to death in İstanbul earlier this year. He also served as deputy chair of Galatasaray Sports Club in 2021.
