A Turkish writer and her 16-year-old son were arrested in the United States

Yesterday, Friday, June 14, American authorities arrested a Turkish writer and her 16-year-old son. They are wanted in Turkey on charges that the 16-year-old was involved in a fatal traffic accident in Istanbul and then fled the country with the help of his mother.

Turkish novelist and poet Aylem Tok and her son, Timur Sekhandimur, were arrested on an extradition request from Turkey as they were about to visit an expensive private school in Boston, according to court records.

Their arrest was announced in a post on the X platform by Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunisi, who said they were “arrested in the United States based on our extradition request.”

According to prosecutors, the teen was driving a Porsche on the evening of March 1, when he crashed into a group of people on all-terrain vehicles while speeding. A man named Oguz Murat Aji was killed and four others were injured. Prosecutors said the teen immediately ran away after saying, “My life is over.”

The family driver picked up the 16-year-old, and within three to four hours, Tok purchased a round-trip flight ticket for herself and her son from Istanbul to Cairo, according to court documents. The two then headed to New York on March 2, authorities said.

Turkish law enforcement authorities have believed since May that the mother and son were in Miami and may have tried to obtain fake passports to travel to Cuba.

Turkey requested the extradition of Cihandimur to stand trial on charges of manslaughter and negligent injury, while Tok (44 years old) is wanted on charges of protecting a criminal.

U.S. District Judge Donald Campbell scheduled a hearing for Tuesday in a Boston court to consider whether Tuck and her son should continue to be held pending extradition after prosecutors said in court documents that the mother and son had the resources to escape if given the opportunity.

They noted that Tuck’s ex-husband is a well-known plastic surgeon, and said that at the time of her arrest, Tuck was carrying $5,000 in cash and that mother and son would attend a private school where annual tuition was $46,000.

Tuck’s lawyer, Brendan Kelly, said the writer should be released, saying that under Turkish law her alleged crime is not punishable if committed by a parent, which could mean she cannot be extradited under a US treaty with Turkey.