Crime and punishment for Turkey minister's fast lane folly
Turkey's Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu addresses the audience during a signing ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey, April 29, 2024.
PHOTO: Reuters file
ANKARA — Turkey's transport minister was slapped with a speeding ticket after posting a video of himself driving 225km per hour on a highway — nearly twice the legal limit — prompting ridicule on social media and a public apology.
The clip, set to folk music and excerpts of a speech by President Tayyip Erdogan praising the government's infrastructure, showed Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu's speedometer soaring and his car zipping past others in the fast lane on the Ankara-Nigde motorway.
Traffic police later issued a fine of 9,267 lira (S$289) for breaking the speed limit around 50km outside the capital Ankara.
Facing backlash, Uraloglu shared an image of the ticket on social media platform X, writing: "Apologies to our nation."
Turkey's maximum speed limit on highways is 140 kmh. Last year, 6,351 people died in nearly 1.5 million road accidents, official data show.
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