Turkey’s judiciary has set up a special unit to investigate possible negligence in the construction of buildings collapsed in Monday’s earthquakes and has already issued more than 110 arrest warrants, Turkey’s vice president announced on Sunday.
According to local press, Turkish police arrested at least 14 people on Saturday in Gaziantep and Sanliurfa provinces, including builders and civil engineers.
At least 6,000 buildings have collapsed in Turkey and the death toll now exceeds 28,000, raising the question of whether the tragedy could have been less if stricter construction criteria had been applied.
Many citizens also wonder whether the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could have done more to save lives.
With presidential elections in May, management of the disaster and explanations for the large number of buildings that collapsed could determine Erdogan’s fate at the polls.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay recalled that the Ministry of Justice states that it is “critical” to collect evidence and impose precautionary measures on suspects to prevent them from fleeing the country.
On Friday, police arrested a Turkish builder of a luxury residential complex in Hatay province that had collapsed with more than 100 people inside.
The arrest came as the builder was preparing to board the ship in Istanbul to flee to Montenegro.
The “Renaissance Residence”, built in 2013, was one of the most exclusive buildings in Antioquia, the capital of Hatay, advertising the apartments as “a picture of paradise”, ensuring that the construction met the strictest quality – and safety criteria.
In another investigation, the Prosecutor’s Office ordered the arrest of 33 people in Diyarbakir (southeast of the country, capital of the province of the same name in the Anatolian region) for negligence in removing pillars to gain space in housing, which affected the structural resistance .
Criticism of the quality of housing
These arrests are the first steps the state has taken to establish accountability at a time when criticism of poor quality housing standards is on the rise, something many attribute to corruption and poor inspection processes.
Although Turkey has rules regarding seismic resistance in buildings, the measures are rarely enforced, even in newer buildings, which should have better resisted earthquakes.
In addition, under Erdogan’s rule, various amnesties were applied to non-compliant buildings, including seismic resistance, and the situation was regularized with the payment of a fine.
The death toll from the devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday has already passed 28,000, mostly on Turkish territory.
Source: DN
