A former Turkish prosecutor with a controversial past has been detained in Germany in connection with the assassination of the financial mastermind of a prominent Northern Cyprus casino tycoon. Bayram Bozkurt, who survived the attack that killed accountant Cemil Önal in the Netherlands, was taken into custody in the German city of Bergheim.
According to a report by Kısa Dalga, citing journalist Ayşemden Akın from Bugün Kıbrıs, Önal — known as the “financial brain” of Northern Cyprus gambling boss Halil Falyalı — was shot dead in the Netherlands on 1 May 2025. Bozkurt was sitting at the same table during the attack and was the only person to escape alive. Dutch authorities’ serious crimes unit TGO has now filed a formal request to Germany for his extradition.
The investigation goes beyond the night of the assassination. Dutch officials are reportedly examining Bozkurt’s network of contacts during his time as a prosecutor in Turkey and potential links to illegal structures across Europe. The case has evolved into a trilateral probe involving Turkey, the Netherlands, and Germany, as investigators scrutinise Bozkurt’s communications and movements before and after the killing.
Bozkurt first became widely known as the Erzincan İliç prosecutor who later appeared as secret witness “Efe” in the controversial case that led to the arrest of former Chief Prosecutor İlhan Cihaner. He resigned, then returned to the judiciary in 2011 under a new identity, “Hakan Aslan,” under Turkey’s Witness Protection Law. Following the 17–25 December corruption probes, he was expelled from the profession over alleged links to the Gülen movement (FETÖ), briefly imprisoned after the failed 15 July 2016 coup attempt, and later fled abroad in 2019 after violating judicial control.
The developments add a new dimension to the unsolved murder of Northern Cyprus figure Halil Falyalı, who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting near Kyrenia in February 2022. Falyalı’s killing, widely viewed as a key event in ongoing power struggles within regional gambling and money-laundering networks, is still under investigation. Authorities are now expected to examine whether the assassination of his alleged “financial brain” Cemil Önal and the detention of Bozkurt in Germany are connected to the broader Falyalı criminal file.