Turkish authorities have detained 184 people suspected of corruption in the construction of buildings destroyed by the earthquakes that hit the country this month. Turkey’s justice minister said on Saturday that more than 600 people were under investigation.
Among those arrested are 79 contractors, 74 people with legal responsibility for the buildings, 13 owners and 18 people involved in building renovations, Bekir Bozdag announced at a press conference, quoted by Reuters.
The earthquakes in Turkey caused the collapse of more than 160,000 buildings.
The Turkish government is under pressure from the opposition, which accuses the Erdogan government of not enforcing anti-seismic construction laws and trying to divert attention from its own responsibilities.
The death toll in Turkey due to the earthquakes that affected 11 provinces in the southeast of the country amounted to 44,128, bringing the total number of victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria to more than 50,000.
Source: TSF
