184 people arrested in Turkey for negligence | Abroad

After the deadly earthquake, the Turkish government was criticized for overlooking poor building standards. Several contractors were arrested. In addition to contractors, architects, building inspectors and (local) authorities also receive a lot of criticism. Contractors are accused of using cheap or unsuitable materials, the authorities of leniency towards substandard structures.

The earthquake and aftershocks damaged more than 173,000 buildings. More than 2 million people are homeless. According to the disaster relief service AFAD, the death toll in Turkey has now reached 44,218 victims. In Syria, 5,900 deaths have been reported so far.

Turkey has vowed to investigate the collapse of the buildings and is so far investigating 246 suspects, including property developers, of whom 27 are now in custody. “Everyone who had a responsibility in building, inspecting and using the buildings is being evaluated,” said Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag.

Industry officials say that about 50% of Turkey’s total of 20 million buildings are in violation of building regulations.

In 2018, the government introduced a so-called amnesty to legalize unregistered construction work, which engineers and architects say can endanger lives. About 10 million people applied to benefit from the amnesty and 1.8 million applications were accepted. Owners paid to register the buildings, which were then subject to various types of taxes and fees.

“We have become a society that sees it as an advantage to put something off for a day, but in the end we are crushed by the consequences. That’s the problem,” Omer Mese, a lawyer from Istanbul, told Reuters.

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