A US court has ruled in favor of extraditing Eylem Tok and her son, Timur Cihantimur, to Turkey following their arrest in the US after fleeing Turkey in connection with a fatal traffic accident in İstanbul, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç announced.
"We will persist in our efforts to have the suspects extradited from the United States so that justice is served," Tunç said on social media.
Özer Aci, the father of Oğuz Murat Aci, who was killed in the accident, expressed relief over the ruling. "I am beginning to see the results of my struggle. This is a process—apprehension, imprisonment, and extradition. It is a relief for us," he said, as quoted by Anadolu Agency (AA).
Aci voiced confidence in the Turkish judiciary, saying, "I believe the courts here will make the right decision. They fled abroad and put the Turkish Republic through so much trouble. They should have understood that justice cannot be escaped, and I think they finally have."
His wife, Pervin Aci, reacted, "I am shaking, I can't even speak. I just hope they receive the punishment they deserve here. I will go to the airport—I need to look that mother in the eye and see what kind of mother she is."
Background
The fatal accident occurred on Mar 1, 2024, on a highway in İstanbul's Eyüpsultan district. One of three all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) traveling together broke down and was pulled over for repairs. As the group examined the disabled vehicle, a luxury car driven by Cihantimur struck all three ATVs, injuring five people and killing 29-year-old Oğuz Murat Aci. Cihantimur, who was 17 at the time and didn't have a driving license due to not meeting the age requirement, was racing with his friends, according to reports emerged at the time.
After the accident, Cihantimur fled the scene in a car driven by his mother, Eylem Tok. Plaintiff attorneys alleged that they had taken the phones of the injured victims to prevent them from calling the police. Authorities later determined the mother and the son had first traveled to Egypt before heading to the US.
Turkey’s Justice Ministry submitted a temporary detention request to US authorities as part of the extradition process. Cihantimur and Tok were arrested in June in Boston following a court appearance. (VK)
