(Removes repetition of ‘per hour’ in first paragraph)
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s transport minister was slapped with a speeding ticket after posting a video of himself driving 225 km per hour (140 mph) 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 ($280) for breaking the speed limit around 50 km (30 miles) 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 (87 mph). Last year, 6,351 people died in nearly 1.5 million road accidents, official data show.
(Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Alex Richardson)
