A 48-year-old former textile technician died on Friday after allegedly being beaten by private security guards outside the İstanbul headquarters of Çalık Holding, where he had gone to demand his severance pay, the Halk TV news website reported.
Erol Eğrek, who had worked for years at a Çalık-owned textile factory in Turkmenistan before being fired a decade ago, had been engaged in a prolonged legal battle to recover what he claimed was 7 million Turkish lira in unpaid compensation. His relatives say he had returned to the company’s Şişli office to ask for the money ahead of his son’s upcoming wedding.
Video footage shared online prior to the incident shows Eğrek describing his situation calmly. According to eyewitness accounts cited in Turkish media, tensions escalated after Eğrek held a gun to his head, reportedly in a dramatic appeal to be heard. A group of private security guards, said to be about 10 in number, then intervened and disarmed him.
Instead of de-escalating the situation, witnesses allege that the guards punched and kicked Eğrek for several minutes. Video recordings from bystanders captured parts of the beating.
Paramedics arrived at the scene and took Eğrek to an İstanbul hospital. Despite doctors’ efforts, he was pronounced dead. His body was sent to the Council of Forensic Medicine for an autopsy.
Eğrek’s family disputes the initial official claims that he died of a heart attack. Speaking to Halk TV, relatives said his face and body showed extensive bruising and injuries. “His jaw was broken, and there was a deep cut under his chin,” his nephew Mehmet Eğrek said. “We believe he was beaten to death.”
A preliminary death certificate reportedly stated that his death was “not the result of injury,” sparking further outrage from the family, who fear an effort to downplay the incident.
According to Mehmet Eğrek, his uncle had previously filed complaints against the company, alleging he had been unfairly let go along with nearly 30 others. While most were paid compensation, Eğrek was not, which his nephew attributes to his prior whistleblowing against the company.
Çalık Holding issued a statement late Friday, saying Eğrek had attempted a “violent, armed protest” and fired multiple rounds near a hospital and school, endangering public safety. The company said its guards “quickly intervened to prevent further harm” and turned Eğrek over to the police. It expressed condolences to his family and said it was cooperating with authorities.
The company also claimed Eğrek had worked at a facility in which it held a minority stake and had left after “receiving all entitlements.”
News of his death sparked a backlash on social media, where users criticized the handling of the incident and called for an independent investigation. Labor unions and youth organizations announced a protest outside Çalık Holding’s Istanbul office on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. local time.
Eğrek is survived by his wife and four children.