Impunity prevails in earthquake cases in Turkey. Those who caused the deaths of hundreds of people are sentenced to a maximum of 18 years in prison and released after serving a few years. Investigations against public officials also yield no results.
According to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s statement yesterday, more than 19 thousand buildings collapsed in the 6 February earthquakes centred on Maraş.
According to the data of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, 50 thousand 576 buildings are heavily damaged buildings that need to be demolished urgently or are already collapsed.
The number of people who lost their lives in the earthquakes is currently 35 thousand 418. 105 thousand 505 people were injured according to official statements. 13 thousand 208 of them are still being treated in hospitals.
Even before the debris removal works have begun, the prosecutors’ offices have taken action. Prosecutors started investigations in 10 provinces regarding the buildings that were demolished or found to have been altered in violation of the zoning. The responsibility of 221 people was determined. Of those who were found responsible, 24 were arrested by the judges. 11 suspects were released on judicial control. There is an arrest warrant for 5 suspects and a detention order for 54 people. 60 people are still in custody.
The anger of the people is great. They are angry with the contractors. They want those responsible to be punished. However, there is a reality of impunity in Turkey.
In the 1999 Gölcük, 2003 Bingöl, 2011 Van and 2020 İzmir earthquakes, building owners, contractors, engineers and fnancial officers were tried for ‘causing death by conscious negligence’. However, they were either acquitted or sentenced as a reward.
Only 110 sentences in 2100 cases in Gölcük
17,408 people lost their lives in the 7.4 earthquake in Gölcük on 17 August 1999. Most of the losses were caused by the collapse of houses. A total of 376 thousand 479 houses and workplaces were damaged in the earthquake, 112 thousand 724 of which were destroyed and heavily damaged.
Although about 2,100 lawsuits were filed after the earthquake, 1800 cases were dropped due to legal gaps. Of the remaining 300 cases, only 110 resulted in penalties and most of these penalties were postponed.
The remaining cases were dropped on 16 February 2007, after seven and a half years, due to the statute of limitations.
In nearly 600 cases filed in Kocaeli, only 12 people were sentenced to 10 months imprisonment each. Six of them were executed and six received suspended sentences. In Sakarya, only five people were sentenced in 695 cases. About 220 cases were filed in Düzce. No one was sentenced to prison as a result of the trials. In Yalova, 173 cases were filed. Although almost all of them were finalised, the only name known to have been sentenced is the contractor Veli Göçer.
The case of Veli Göçer, most of the buildings he constructed collapsed and nearly 200 people lost their lives, has become a symbol of the Gölcük earthquake.
Göçer was sentenced to 18 years and 9 months in prison, but was released in 2011 after serving 7.5 years in prison. In 2018, Göçer established a new contracting company and started construction again.
After the 1999 Gölcük earthquake, 170 public officials were charged with ‘neglect of duty’. While some public officials were suspended from duty, some cases were dropped due to the statute of limitations.
1.5 years for 85 lives in Bingöl
On 1 May 2003, 625 buildings collapsed or were heavily damaged in a 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Bingöl. 177 people died in the earthquake. The highest loss of life in the earthquake was at Çeltiksuyu Primary School with Boarding Accommodation. As a result of the collapse of the dormitory block of the school, 85 people, including 1 teacher and 84 students, lost their lives.
The Prime Minister of the time, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “The materials were stolen, the tender conditions were not complied with, the guilty will be brought to the table.” The verdict on the earthquake came out 6 years later. Bingöl High Criminal Court sentenced the school contractor Şeref Bozkuş to 3.5 years in prison, control engineer Şadiye Topçu and engineer İsmet Elhakan to 2.5 years in prison for ‘causing death by negligence’. Six defendants were acquitted in the case.
The Court of Cassation upheld the sentences given by the local court. Bozkuş was released after 1.5 years in prison and Elhakan was released after 1 year in prison.
In the lawsuit filed by the relatives of those who lost their lives, Elazığ Regional Administrative Court ruled that the Ministry of National Education should pay compensation to the families ranging from 50 thousand to 120 thousand TL.
No justice in Van either
604 people lost their lives and 4,152 people were injured in the 7.2 magnitude Van-Erciş earthquake on 23 October 2011 and the 5.6 magnitude Van-Edremit earthquake on 9 November 2011.
In the first earthquake 2 thousand 262 buildings collapsed and in the second earthquake 25 buildings, including 2 hotels, collapsed. The first sentence was given to Tevfik Bayram, the owner of Bayram Hotel, which collapsed in the second earthquake and killed 24 people, including DHA reporters Sebahattin Yılmaz and Cem Emir.
Bayram, who was tried at Van 2nd High Criminal Court, was sentenced to 11 years, 1 month and 10 days of imprisonment on the charge of ‘causing the death of more than one person with conscious negligence’. Later, the Court of Cassation overturned the local court’s decision by finding the sentence too low due to ‘the gravity of the act and the high number of people who died’. Bayram was sentenced to 15 years, 6 months and 20 days in prison.
Remaining in prison for 4 years, Bayram was released after a Decree Law issued in 2016.
Efkan Ala, then Minister of Interior, ignored the Constitutional Court’s (AYM) ruling in the Bayram Otel case and did not authorise the investigation of public officials.
Municipality and ministry sentenced to compensation
The second prison sentence in the Van earthquake came out 4 years after the earthquake. Ahmet and Mahmut Arslan, partners of the Arslan Hotel, which was built as 6 storeys although the licence showed 4 storeys and collapsed in the second earthquake, were sentenced to 11 years, 1 month and 10 days in prison each.
In the lawsuit filed by the children of Mevlüt Sinan, who died in the rubble of Arslan Hotel, Van Municipality, AFAD and the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation were ordered to pay 45 thousand TL compensation.
In the lawsuits filed by homeowners whose houses were demolished, Van Metropolitan Municipality, Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation and AFAD were sentenced to 5 million TL compensation for 100 cases.
Acquittal despite the final judgement
The symbolic case of the Van earthquake was the Sevgi Apartment Building case in which 39 people lost their lives. The case against the building’s contractor Salih Ölmez and civil engineer Murat Kazancı was concluded on 6 November 2019, 8 years after the earthquake.
Erciş Heavy Penal Court acquitted Ölmez and Kazancı despite the prosecutor’s opinion that the defendants should be sentenced for ‘causing death with conscious negligence’. The lawyers reacted against the acquittal verdict without waiting for the statements after the hearing in which the complainant lawyers did not attend.
10-year prison sentences turned into fines
The case of the 7-storey Dağ Apartment Building in Erciş, where 45 people lost their lives, was finalised in 2015. The Erciş Heavy Penal Court sentenced İrfan Dağ, the contractor who lost his wife and two daughters in the building, Celal Yıldız, another contractor and Murat Kazancı, a civil engineer, to 10 years imprisonment each for negligently causing the death of more than one person.
The court reduced the sentences to 8 years and 4 months. The court then converted 3 thousand 40 days to a fine of 20 TL per day. Thus, the defendants were sentenced to a total judicial fine of 60 thousand 800 TL.
Nezir Baş, the owner of Safa apartment block where 20 people lost their lives, was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison.
Van 1st High Criminal Court in its reasoned verdict concluded that the building collapsed due to lack of due diligence during the construction of the building, poor iron workmanship, poor concrete quality and lack of reinforcement.
However, the sentence given to Baş was converted into a judicial fine of 227,500 liras considering the defendant’s personality, his fault based on negligence, his remorse during the trial, and his social and economic status.
10 people sentenced to jail between 4 and 18 years in Izmir
On 30 October 2020, 117 people died and 1034 people were injured in a 7.0-magnitude earthquake lasting 16 seconds off the Aegean Sea.
36 people died in Rıza Bey Apartment, 32 people died in Emrah Apartment, 15 people died in Doğanlar Apartment, 11 people died in Yağcıoğlu, Yılmaz Erbek and Barış Sitesi.
A lawsuit was filed against 37 defendants, including contractors, surveyors, civil engineers, architects, building inspection company officials, building managers and unauthorised repairers, for “causing the death and injury of more than one person with conscious negligence”.
Three of the cases have been finalised so far. In these cases, 10 defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 4 years, 5 months and 10 days to 18 years.
In the Yağcıoğlu Apartment Building case, the building contractor Şerafettin Ağar and the building supervisor Orhan Ayber were sentenced to 12 years and 6 months each for “causing death and injury to more than one person with conscious negligence”.
In the Doğanlar Apartment Building case, building contractor Çetin Doğan was sentenced to 18 years, project author Mehmet Sedat Boyacı to 12 years, and surveyor Gündüz Uysal to 4 years, 5 months and 10 days. The file of fugitive Bedriye Işıldak, the building fitter, was separated.
In the Yılmaz Erbek Apartment Building case, the court sentenced the only arrested defendant Mustafa Yılmaz to 15 years in prison. Ali Özsoy, the civil engineer of the building, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, Binay Bükey and Eşref Pervis Toğulga, officials of the building supervision company, and Nurettin Bozdoğan, the chief engineer, were sentenced to 7 years and 6 months each. 6 defendants were acquitted. Two defendants died during the trial.
Regarding Barış Sitesi, where deaths and injuries occurred in the earthquake, a lawsuit could not be filed due to the fact that the suspects were not alive and could not be identified.
The trial of 13 defendants in the case related to Rızabey Apartment where the highest number of deaths occurred with 36 people, 2 defendants in the case related to Emrah Apartment where 30 people lost their lives and 8 people were injured, and 3 defendants without arrest in the case related to Cumhuriyet Site where 10 people were injured is continuing.
Public officials are also on trial
Within the scope of the investigation, lawsuits were opened in some of the files prepared against municipality officials and Chamber of Civil Engineers Izmir Branch employees who were alleged to have negligence and lack of supervision in the demolition of the buildings and sent to the Office of Civil Offences.
The trials of 11 defendants, including the municipality’s deputy director of public works, zoning manager, branch chief, civil engineer, deputy zoning manager and technician, for “misconduct in office” regarding the deaths and injuries in Rızabey Apartment, Barış and Cumhuriyet Complexes are ongoing.
In the indictments, it was claimed that these defendants were public officials who examined and controlled the static projects of the demolished buildings, gave approval and issued licences, and acted contrary to the requirements of the duty imposed on them according to the legal legislation in the zoning law numbered 3194 and the provisions of the regulation dated 1975.
You can access our other article examples and petition examples by clicking