Two senior figures involved in the construction of a huge residential complex in Turkey that collapsed in earthquakes in 2023 have been sentenced to more than 18 years in prison, Agence France-Presse reported, citing local media.
The case involved an eight-story tower block in the Ebrar complex in the southeastern city of Kahramanmaraş, Turkey’s private NTV broadcaster said.
There were 22 such blocks in the complex, nearly all of which collapsed when the first 7.8-magnitude quake struck before dawn on February 6, 2023, killing 1,400 people.
Wednesday’s verdict related to the collapse of Block B, where 115 people died, NTV said, with the judge sentencing chief contractor Tevfik Tepebaşı and Atilla Öz, head of the cooperative that built the block, to more than 18 years each for “causing death and injury through conscious negligence.”
There were four other defendants in the case, three of whom were acquitted for lack of evidence, while the fourth was tried in absentia, NTV said.
Tepebaşı — who was jailed shortly after the quake and is being prosecuted in several other quake-related cases — caused an uproar at a hearing a year ago when he told the court he should not be charged with a crime because “I don’t know anything about construction.”
Quoted by NTV, several of the victims’ families said they were not satisfied with the verdicts and the fact that three defendants were acquitted, saying they would appeal.
The earthquake killed more than 53,500 people in Turkey and nearly 6,000 in neighboring Syria. It also flattened 39,000 buildings and severely damaged another 200,000, leaving nearly 2 million people homeless.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pointed the finger at negligent contractors, accusing them of cutting corners by using cheap concrete and ignoring basic building standards, and more than 200 contractors and developers were arrested in the immediate aftermath of the quake.
But there have been few, if any, investigations into the public officials who signed off on building permits and safety inspections, which can only be opened with the interior ministry’s permission.