Statement from the Aci family's lawyer regarding Bülent Cihantimur's testimony: 'We find it insincere'

The lawyer for the family of Oğuz Murat Aci, who lost his life in the traffic accident in Eyüpsultan, Burak Erden, stated that they do not find the prosecutor's office testimony of Bülent Cihantimur, the father of the fugitive suspect T.C., to be sincere.

One of the lawyers for the Aci family, Burak Erden, made statements in front of the courthouse regarding the taking of the testimony of Bülent Cihantimur, the father of the fugitive suspect T.C., at the prosecutor's office today (15.03.2024).

Lawyer Erden stated that a judicial control measure requiring the suspect Bülent Cihantimur to sign in three days a week has been imposed, and noted that Cihantimur mentioned in his testimony that he did not go to the airport with Eylem Tok.

Stating that Cihantimur's driver clearly explained in his testimony that the vehicle's battery died on the route to the airport, Erden said that the route in question was not the route between the home and the workplace.

"AFTER ALL, HE IS NOT A 5-YEAR-OLD CHILD"

Erden said the following:

"His own driver states that the vehicle's battery died. Of course, he himself did not make such a statement. In his testimony, he mentioned that he had no contact with his son at all. Naturally, we find these to be insincere. After all, his son is not a 5-year-old child; he is 17. We believe they have been in contact from that time until now.

"PERHAPS HE WILL EVEN SAY HE DOESN'T KNOW HIS OWN SON"

I believe he went home after the surgery. His mother, Ms. Eylem, informed him. But the process after that, they agreed, 'We went to our workplace.' Why would you take items from the house and go to the workplace at that hour? He also gave statements regarding the employee named Ayşe Ceren, who was arrested. If he went a little further, he would say, 'I don't know Ms. Eylem, and I don't know Ayşe Ceren either.' Perhaps he will even say he doesn't know his own son."

WHAT HAPPENED?

In Eyüpsultan, one of three ATVs in motion broke down, and while the broken vehicle pulled to the side of the road was being repaired, one of two vehicles traveling in the same direction struck the 3 ATVs there.

Five people injured in the accident were taken to the hospital, and one of the injured, Oğuz Murat Aci, could not be saved despite medical intervention.

During the investigation, it was determined that the 17-year-old driver, T.C., who caused the accident, fled the scene with his mother Eylem Tok, who had arrived at the location, and that they went to Istanbul Airport around 02:00 and flew to Egypt around 04:30.

Within the scope of the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, an arrest warrant was issued for T.C. and Eylem Tok, who fled to Egypt, and subsequently, a letter was written to the Ministry of Justice with a request for a red notice.

Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç also announced that contact had been made with Egyptian judicial authorities and that the temporary arrest request documents for the extradition of the suspects, who were determined to have gone to the USA, had been forwarded to the competent US authorities.

Ayşe Ceren S., a corporate communications specialist working at the workplace of the suspect's father, Bülent Cihantimur, was arrested on charges of "aiding a criminal" and "concealing evidence," while judicial control measures were applied to Cihantimur and A.K., who handed over the lost phone of one of the injured to the police after the accident.