Interpol issues red notice for Turkish teen and mother in US after car crash, says state media

ISTANBUL — Interpol granted Turkey's request to issue a red notice for a 17-year-old involved in a fatal car accident in Istanbul, as well as his mother who fled with him to the United States, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday (May 23).

It said Interpol issued the red notice on Thursday for Turkish novelist and poet Eylem Tok and her son, with whom she travelled to the United States via Egypt following the traffic incident in March.

The teenager was driving a car on March 1 when his vehicle ran into and killed one person and injured four others on the outskirts of Istanbul, authorities said.

Turkish media released footage in March showing Tok and her son in New York. Turkey submitted an extradition request the same month to US authorities for the mother and son.

A red notice is a request to law enforcement officials to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office was continuing its investigation into the death of Oguz Murat Aci and the injury of four others, Turkish media reported.

A few days after the incident, Tok issued a written statement published by Demiroren news agency: "We'll be brought to justice. On behalf of myself and my son, I sincerely apologise to the public."

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