Uproar in Turkey as mother, son flee to US after fatal hit-and-run

ANKARA — Turkey is seeking the extradition of a mother and son from the United States over a deadly hit-and-run that sparked outrage in the country as grisly details, including the alleged seizure of the victims’ phones to prevent them from calling emergency services, emerge. 

The 16-year-old, identified only by his initials T.C., is accused of crashing his Porsche into five people — killing Oguz Murat Aci, 29, and injuring four others, one severely — at high speed before being whisked away by his mother, who arrived at the scene soon after the accident in Istanbul earlier this month. The crash took place in a forested area. Turkish authorities last week established that the mother, Eylem Tok, and son escaped to the United States via Egypt, where only the minor holds dual citizenship.

Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc on Tuesday said they submitted an extradition request for the minor and his mother to the Department of Justice and that Turkey is also seeking the provisional arrest of the pair. 

A State Department official told Al-Monitor that they were “aware of” the reports related to the accident but refrained from commenting on whether the extradition request had been made. The Justice Department also declined to comment.