Turkish Justice Ministry requests red notice for fugitive mother, underage driver son over fatal accident

Duvar English

Turkey's Justice Ministry has requested a red notice for the 17-year-old son and his mother Eylem Tok who fled Turkey after the underage driver caused the death of one and injured four in a car accident.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, who carries out an investigation into the accident, previously issued an arrest warrant for mother Eylem Tok on the charge of "abetting the criminal" and for her son on the charge of "reckless killing and multiple injuries."

The accident occurred in the late hours of March 1, when underage and licenceless driver T.C. crashed into a group of ATV drivers who had stopped in the emergency lane, as one of their vehicles broke down.

Hours after the accident, the son and her mother were spotted at Istanbul Airport going through customs for Egypt.

Before leaving for the US from Egypt, Tok on March 5 released a statement and said she acted upon “motherly instinct” when helping his son escape the country.

The prosecutor’s office on March 7 requested a red notice for both. The Ministry accepted the request, Turkish media outlets reported on May 23.

Meanwhile, the pro-government media organization Demirören News Agency (DHA) reporter Rojda Altıntaş on May 6 revealed that her employer asked her to omit details from and postpone releasing the article about the car accident.

An anonymous X account on May 5 shared phone call recordings between Altıntaş and a man who introduces himself as İlker, the Demirören family’s driver. The driver is heard asking the reporter not to publish the article on the accident just yet, as Cemal (the underaged driver) and Demirören’s youngest son were “childhood friends.”