Rezan Epözdemir, a lawyer known for high-profile cases, was detained on Sunday in Istanbul as part of two investigations.
The Chief Prosecutor’s Office in the city said he is accused of bribery, aiding the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), and political and military espionage.
Police squads searched Epözdemir’s home and his office in Istanbul’s Levent district before his detention. Media outlets reported that Epözdemir was scheduled to fly to London at the time of his detention.
Epözdemir is a well-known lawyer who last represented the family of Ahmet Mattia Minguzzi, a boy murdered by two other boys in broad daylight in an Istanbul marketplace last January.
Last year, a photo of Epözdemir having dinner with Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official and Dan Arbell, a former high-level official at Israeli Foreign Ministry made the headlines in Turkish media, sparking an uproar. Social media users questioned Epözdemir’s ties especially to Rubin who is known for staunchly anti-Turkish articles he penned on several websites.
FETÖ, known for its widespread infiltration into public institutions, from judiciary to military, carried out deadly coup attempt on July 15, 2016. Since then, its extensive network has been under heightened scrutiny. The group still has backers in army ranks and civil institutions but they managed to disguise their loyalty, as operations and investigations since the coup attempt have indicated.
Tens of thousands of people linked to FETÖ were detained, arrested or dismissed from public sector jobs following the attempt under a state of emergency. Hundreds of investigations launched after the attempt sped up the collapse of the group’s far-reaching network in the country.
