Eylem Tok, the mother of a 17-year-old dual Turkish-US citizen accused of causing a fatal car accident in İstanbul and fleeing to the United States, has said in a letter from prison that she acted on “maternal instinct” and claimed her family had reached a settlement with the legal heirs of the man killed in the crash.
Tok’s son, Timur Cihantimur, is accused of driving without a license in İstanbul’s Eyüpsultan district on March 1, 2024, and causing a crash that killed 29-year-old Oğuz Murat Aci and injured four others. After the accident, Cihantimur and his mother flew to Egypt and then to the United States, where they were arrested in Boston in June 2024 pursuant to an extradition request from Turkey.
Tok, a novelist and poet, made the remarks in a letter shared by journalist Razi Canikligil, breaking her silence in a case that has attracted widespread public attention in Turkey.
“In that unfortunate moment of the accident, I was a mother; I was not in a position to assess what was right or wrong,” Tok said in the letter. “I acted more on instinct than reason. My only thought was to protect my frightened and shaken child. If there was a mistake, the greatest responsibility for it belongs to us as his mother and father.”
She claimed that her family had reached a settlement with Aci’s legal heirs.
“I would also like to state that we reached a settlement agreement with the legal heirs and made peace with them,” she said, while adding that she knew the loss could not be compensated.
There has been no official confirmation from Aci’s family regarding Tok’s claim.
Aci’s widow, Şükriye Aci, withdrew her complaint in May 2025, saying in a petition that “material and moral damages have been compensated.” Four others injured in the crash also submitted similar petitions withdrawing their complaints against Cihantimur and Tok.
The decision led to disappointment for Özer Aci, the victim’s father, who said at the time that he had not been informed of his daughter-in-law’s decision and vowed to continue seeking justice.
“Everyone answers for their own choices. I’m not backing down. This case is my red line,” he told Ekol TV.
Despite the withdrawal of the complaints, Turkish prosecutors continued the case as a public prosecution since the charges relate to a fatal traffic incident and are not dependent on individual complaints under the Turkish Penal Code.
A US federal judge in Massachusetts ruled in February 2025 that Tok and her son could be extradited to Turkey, rejecting arguments that they had not been charged with extraditable offenses and clearing the way for the US State Department to consider turning them over. The final decision rests with the Department of State.
An indictment drafted by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office seeks prison sentences of up to 10 years for Tok; Cihantimur’s father Bülent Cihantimur, a cosmetic surgeon; and three others on charges of protecting an offender and destroying, concealing or altering evidence.
Prosecutors allege that the suspects collaborated to help the teenager evade law enforcement after the crash, preventing him from taking an alcohol test or giving a statement and facilitating his departure from Turkey.
The indictment also says the suspects attempted to obtain and conceal a mobile phone belonging to one of the injured victims, which prosecutors described as key evidence. The phone was later turned over to the police.
Timur Cihantimur is being investigated separately on charges of causing death and injury by negligence.