Scandalous defense in fatal accident trial of Kerem Kınık's daughter: She blamed the deceased youth

In the accident that occurred on July 9, 2024, at approximately 13:30 in the Kavacık neighborhood of Istanbul's Beykoz district, the car with license plate 34 FKJ 390, driven by Fatma Zehra Kınık, the daughter of former Turkish Red Crescent President Kerem Kınık, collided with a motorcycle while exiting Baki Street onto Fatih Sultan Mehmet Avenue.

17-year-old Yavuz Selim Öztürk, who was driving the motorcycle with license plate 34 HUT 980 without a helmet and carrying a passenger, was injured, while his passenger, 16-year-old Batın Barlas Çeki, was critically injured. Çeki, who hit his head on a bollard on the sidewalk, lost his life at the hospital where he was taken. A lawsuit was filed against Zehra Kınık, for whom a prison sentence of up to 15 years is requested on charges of causing the accident.

FATHER REMOVED FROM THE COURTROOM

The hearing held at the Anatolian 8th High Criminal Court was attended by the defendant Fatma Zehra Kınık, the complainant-defendant motorcycle driver Yavuz Selim Öztürk, the mother of the deceased Batın Barlas Çeki, and the lawyers for both sides. Since the complainant-defendant Öztürk had reached the age of 18, the hearing was held in public.

Batın Barlas Çeki’s father was removed from the courtroom for allegedly disrupting the order of the court while the defendant's lawyer was presenting the defense.

In his defense, complainant-defendant Yavuz Selim Öztürk stated that he was not responsible for the accident, saying, “I object to the Forensic Medicine Institute report. I saw the vehicle stopped at the end of the street. When I realized it was accelerating, I maneuvered. I wanted to accelerate and get away, but when it touched the back of the motorcycle, the motorcycle tipped to the left and the vehicle hit me. It is not easy to control a motorcycle.”

SCANDALOUS DEFENSE FROM Zehra Kınık

Zehra Kınık, the prime suspect in the accident, did not accept the report stating she was primarily at fault in her defense and shifted the blame to the deceased youth:

“This is a very sad accident. I share the family's pain, and I even went to offer my condolences. However, I do not accept the Forensic Medicine Institute report. I made my checks, three vehicles passed. I pulled out onto the road, and I noticed the motorcycle when I was right in the middle. There is a claim that I did not stop, but I did stop. The motorcycle was very fast, and he was not wearing a helmet. This was only an accident with material damage; the death did not occur at the scene. I went to help immediately and said, 'call an ambulance.' I was at the scene until the police arrived. I wish this accident had not happened.”

The mother of the deceased Batın Barlas Çeki experienced emotional moments in court and reacted sharply to Kınık’s defense:

“It is clear that she does not know how to drive. She was involved in another accident after this one. She pressed the gas instead of the brake. It was said that my son held onto his friend or the bollard while falling. There are camera recordings; she is one hundred percent at fault. She didn't call me even once. I cannot live through my grief. I have nightmares. Her driver's license wasn't even revoked. If she had continued like this, she would have caused a third or fourth accident. Is my son's life worth so little? I am withdrawing my complaint against Yavuz Selim Öztürk.”

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

On July 9, 2024, the car driven by Fatma Zehra Kınık collided with a motorcycle while exiting onto Fatih Sultan Mehmet Avenue in Kavacık. Batın Barlas Çeki, who was a passenger on the back of the motorcycle, lost his life in the accident. It was also determined that the motorcycle, left without a driver, hit pedestrians.

Zehra Kınık, who was taken into custody, was later released to be tried without arrest. In the lawsuit regarding the accident, a prison sentence of up to 15 years is requested on charges of “causing death and injury by negligence.”