Concern is growing in the occupied territories on the deadly Takata airbags, following a report in daily ‘Kibris’ that the complete list of vehicles had been known to the ‘authorities’ for over a year and a half, with no action being taken.
As the head of the Turkish-Cypriot "Insurance Companies' Association" Borte Barlasoğlu, told the newspaper, the organisation have a detailed lists of all affected vehicles in their possession.
He noted that in late 2023 they had informed the "relevant authorities" about the danger, requesting permission to warn the owners. Their request was rejected however, on the grounds of personal data protection.
"If we had been given that permission a year and a half ago, perhaps today we would not have lost this individual," Barlasoğlu stated, referring to a 26 year old man who was killed in a recent traffic accident. Their inaction, he added, had fatal consequences.
The timeline of the tragedy and the admission of delay
The debate was reignited following the death of Ali Osman Bayram. According to the report, the autopsy revealed that the cause of death was a metal fragment ejected from the defective Takata airbag during the collision and lodged in his head.
For his part, the so-called "minister of public works and transport," Erhan Arıklı, admitted the delay, noting that the relevant "bill" for the recall of these vehicles has not yet been advanced.
As he noted, they are still expecting the opinions of the "prosecutor's office" and other involved agencies for the process to move forward.
"Unfortunately, we did not proceed with the initiative at the appropriate time," he is reported to have said.