US court orders continued detention of hit-and-run suspect of fatal Istanbul accident

By Necva Tastan

ISTANBUL (AA) – A court in the US city of Boston ruled on Monday that Eylem Tok, a Turkish author who fled to the US with her son following a fatal traffic accident in Istanbul, will remain in custody pending a hearing for her extradition back to Türkiye.

After lawyers for the US government spoke on alleged tampering of evidence and looting in the wake of the accident, the judge gave Tok's lawyers the floor and asked if they requested additional time, a Turkish lawyer said on X.

The judge said a bail hearing will be held next week for Tok’s son, Timur Cihantimur.

On March 1, Cihantimur, driving his parents’ SUV without a license, crashed into three ATVs that had stopped in Istanbul’s Eyup Sultan district, injuring five people. One of them, Oguz Murat Aci, later died.

Cihantimur left the scene of the accident with his mother in her vehicle and flew to Egypt and then the US.

After documents requesting their extradition were forwarded to US authorities by the Turkish Justice Ministry, the mother and son were found and detained.