The Ministry of Justice has determined the creation of task forces to investigate violations of the building code. Five days after the earthquake, the mourning of the population begins to give way to anger and pressure increases on the government during the earthquake that hit the country and neighboring Syria on Monday (06/02).
The Justice Ministry has ordered prosecutors in the country’s ten provinces hit by the earthquakes to create task forces to investigate possible crimes linked to the high death toll, which passed 25,000 on Saturday.
Among these possible offenses is failure to comply with the Turkish building code, which had already been reformed after the 1999 earthquake to prevent buildings from collapsing in the event of tremors.
The initiative is a way for the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to try to react to the growing pressure of the population due to the consequences of the earthquake and the slow response to the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in several cities.
Many Turks have voiced criticism of contractors for allegedly reducing building safety to increase their profits and of the government for giving amnesty to contractors who built buildings in violation of building codes.
Arrests and warrants against more than 100 people
In Ganziantep and Sanliurfa provinces, at least 12 people – mostly contractors – were arrested on charges of negligence in the construction of collapsed buildings.
One of those arrested in Ganziantep is Mehmet Ertan Akay, responsible for the construction of a collapsed building complex, who is charged with manslaughter and building code violation, according to a Turkish news agency.
A contractor was also arrested at Istanbul airport in September as he tried to flee to Montenegro. He had built a 12-story building with 250 apartments in Hatay Province which collapsed in the earthquake.
Diyarbakir authorities issued arrest warrants against 30 people on Saturday. In Adana province, arrest warrants have been issued for 62 people, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu News Agency reported on Saturday.
Two contractors responsible for a 14-storey building in Andana, who are believed to have fled mainland Turkey shortly after the earthquake, have been arrested in northern Cyprus.
Insecurity hampers rescues
Lack of food and water and dissatisfaction with relief efforts have increased pressure on the Turkish government and also on support teams sent from other countries.
“It is clear that grief is slowly giving way to anger,” said Steven Bayer, director of the German advocacy organization ISAR in Turkey on Saturday.
Rescue teams from Germany and Austria suspended their search and rescue operations in southeastern Turkey on Saturday, prompted by security concerns and unrest in Hatay province.
“There is growing inter-factional aggression in Turkey,” Austrian Colonel Pierre Kugelweis said. Rescue teams have been sent to their bases until the situation improves. “We would like to continue to help, but these are the circumstances,” he said.
The Turkish government said on Saturday that 48 people from eight different provinces had been arrested for looting following the earthquake. An official decree released on Saturday allows the arrest of suspected looters for up to seven days. “From now on, people involved in looting or kidnapping must know that the firm hand of the state will turn to them,” Erdogan said.
bl (AFP, dpa, ots)
Source: Terra
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