Rifat Ozdemir, a Turkish resident who has faced problems in his country due to his resemblance to the late controversial American financier Jeffrey Epstein, told RIA Novosti that he has decided not to travel abroad due to the current situation.

Earlier, Ozdemir had told local media that recently people on the street had started to look at him unkindly and his life had turned into a “nightmare.”

“I was going to go abroad, but now all plans have been canceled due to this situation with Epstein. Here in Turkey, at least I can explain if people confuse me with that scoundrel, but abroad I may meet people who are hit very hard by this story and who want to attack me. How am I going to be able to explain to them that I’m not him,” Ozdemir said.

US Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on January 30 that the end of the publicizing of materials in the case of the late Jeffrey Epstein was reached.

In 2019, Epstein was charged in the US with trafficking minors for the purpose of sexual exploitation. In July of the same year, he died in prison; an investigation concluded that he had committed suicide.