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Justice remains elusive for victims’ families on 2nd anniversary of Turkey earthquakes

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Two years after the February 2023 earthquakes that devastated parts of Turkey, claiming over 53,000 lives, justice remains elusive for the families of the victims, with only one contractor receiving a lengthy sentence for his role in the collapse of a building in trials held so far, the ANKA news agency reported on Monday, citing official data.

The magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes struck 11 provinces in southern and southeastern Turkey on February 6, 2023, killing 53,725 people, injuring more than 107,000 and leaving millions homeless when thousands of buildings collapsed.

Poor construction and failure to enforce building codes even in Turkey’s earthquake-prone areas has been blamed for the extent of the destruction.

According to data from the Justice Ministry, a total of 2,031 investigations have been launched into individuals involved in the construction of buildings that collapsed during the earthquakes over the past two years.

Prosecutors have filed 1,397 indictments so far, while 51 other indictments are still under review by the court.

There are 1,327 defendants in 1,271 ongoing cases in courts of first instance, with 134 of them currently held in pretrial detention. There are 77 defendants in 51 cases, three of whom are in jail, in the review phase.

Courts have concluded 75 trials so far, which resulted in prison sentences for 130 defendants.

Hasan Alpargün, the contractor of an apartment building in Adana that collapsed, was the only defendant convicted of “having caused the death or injury of more than one person through conscious negligence,” receiving 62 life sentences and 865 years in prison.

The 14-story apartment block was destroyed by the first massive earthquake, killing a total of 92 people. Built in 1975, the building’s collapse immediately aroused suspicion since Adana, located less than 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the earthquake’s epicenter, was largely spared from the violent tremors.

Other contractors tried in connection with their role in the collapse of the buildings in the earthquakes were sentenced to prison terms ranging from eight to 21 years.

In many cases, defendants were either acquitted or granted sentence reductions for exhibiting “good conduct,” raising concerns about accountability in Turkey’s deadliest disaster of modern times.

Little hope for justice

Turkey, which is located on major fault lines and is frequently hit by powerful earthquakes, has a poor record in the delivery of justice for those who are responsible for the death of thousands in earthquakes due to shoddy construction.

 When more than 17,000 people were killed in a 7.4 magnitude temblor that struck the western city of İzmit in 1999, prosecutors drafted 2,100 indictments against contractors and other related parties due to their role in the death of people in collapsed buildings.

Among them, 1,800 trials could not proceed due to loopholes in the law, while defendants were convicted in 110 of the remaining 300 trials. They were released from prison after serving short sentences.

Some trials were dropped due to the expiration of the statute of limitations in February 2007, seven-and-a-half years after the earthquake.

There is little hope that Turkey’s justice system will this time give a fair trial to those responsible for the collapsed buildings and satisfy the victims’ families’ quest for justice.

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