05/03/2020

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According to Independent, the number of defamation actions brought over derogatory posts on social media has increased by more than 300 % the past year. An example of a defamation victim is a resident in Cayman, Ergun Berksoy.

Ergun Berksoy is a Caymanian entrepreneur who was born in 1943 in Ankara, Turkey. He completed his Undergraduate Degree in Finance at Academy of Economical & Commercial Sciences Faculty and started off his career in 1964 in the planning department of Karamürsel U.S. Air Force Base, Turkey. His career took off when he started exporting food products in 1976. From the Ministry of Commerce in Turkey he received five golden medals for reaching $150 million in yearly export revenue. In 1987 he moved into the tourism industry and established 5-star hotel chain "Cesars" in Turkey. His hotels are still in operation and he has been the owner/manager of the hotels since the day their doors opened to the public. 

In 2003, Ergun Berksoy moved to Grand Cayman with his family. He founded Seven Mile Beach Investment Co. Ltd.  and started investing in the property market. After purchasing several condos in Regal Beach Club (RBC), Berksoys became members of RBC ExCo (Executive Community) and played a key role in the decisions taken at the AGMs (Annual General Meeting).  At the AGM held in 2015, few landlords at RBC put their name forward to be elected for ExCo, but didn't succeed due to the majority of ExCo voting against them. Therefore, they decided to take revenge by defaming Ergun Berksoy online.

In 2015, Ergun Berksoy filed a court case against one of the landlords, P.P. The court suspended P.P.'s access to the properties he owned in Grand Cayman and confiscated his laptop and phone. Therefore, he flew away from Grand Cayman and haven't returned ever since. 

The blogs that have been online since 2015, accuse Ergun Berksoy of illegally sourcing his money and claim that Interpol has been after him. As seen below from the criminal record reports in Grand Cayman and Turkey, Mr. Berksoy has never conducted any business illegitimately. Ergun Berksoy's source of funds were proven to be legitimately earned from his 5-star hotel chain in Turkey as a precondition for opening a bank account in Grand Cayman.  Since 2015, Ergun Berksoy travelled to the U.K., U.S.A., Japan, Switzerland, and Turkey on numerous occasions. Ergun Berksoy stated: "If the allegations were to be true, I would have been easily caught while travelling extensively."  In order to end this defamation campaign, Ergun Berksoy requested a clearance report from Interpol that confirms he has never been involved in any criminal activity. The application and the clearance report are attached below. In 2019, Ergun Berksoy opened a court case in Turkey to take down the blogs and the court case is yet to be finalised.