Fugitive writer, her son detained in US over fatal crash

 U.S. authorities detained fugitive writer Eylem Tok and her son, Timur Cihantimur, who fled to the U.S. after killing one person in a traffic accident in Istanbul back in March, upon the request of Türkiye, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said Friday.

A court in Boston has arrested suspect Eylem Tok and her son Timur Cihantimur as part of our extradition request, Tunç wrote on X.

He added that a hearing to review the detentions will be held on June 18.

"We will closely follow the extradition trial process that will begin after this hearing and continue our efforts to extradite the suspects from the U.S. to our country," he added.

The incident claimed the life of Oğuz Murat Aci and left four others hospitalized in Istanbul on March 1. It involved a group of five friends traveling on ATV-type vehicles when a luxury jeep driven by 17-year-old Timur Cihantimur collided with them.

Following the accident, Cihantimur and his mother, Eylem Tok, a renowned writer, fled the country. Tok and her son reportedly left for Egypt and then the United States.

On March 7, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office submitted a request to the Justice Ministry to issue a red notice for Cihantimur and Tok.

On May 23, the ministry approved this request, issuing a red notice for the fugitive suspects in the incident that was one of the leading hot topics of debate in the country for weeks and stirred huge criticism.

Authorities first initiated the process to request the extradition of the teenager from Egyptian judicial authorities after it was confirmed that they had fled to Egypt.

Tunç then announced via X late on March 7 that Türkiye had sent a provisional arrest request for the extradition of both the mother and son to the United States, where they were reported to have headed after leaving Egypt.

After the request, Interpol approved Türkiye's request to issue a Red Notice for the mother and son.