Hotel owner blames earthquake as the sole culprit for collapse

ADIYAMAN

In the trial regarding the İsias Hotel in Adıyaman, which collapsed in the Feb. 6 earthquakes and buried 72 people, the owner of the hotel has claimed his hotel would not have collapsed if the earthquake had been a magnitude of 7.2 instead of 7.7.

On the fourth day of the trial, the hearing was adjourned until April.

Upon the collapse of İsias Hotel in the Kahramanmaraş-centered Feb. 6 earthquakes, a lawsuit was filed against 11 people, five of whom were arrested, with the demand of imprisonment up to 22 years on the charge of “causing death and injury to more than one person with conscious negligence.”

The victims who lost their lives, called "Champion Angels," included athletes, teachers, coaches, who had come from Northern Cyprus for a volleyball tournament, as well as members of the Association of Tourist Guides of Türkiye.

The hearings of the case, which began on Jan. 3, continued on its fourth day with the testimony of the defendants.

Stating that he was devastated for each individual who lost their life in his hotel, Ahmet Bozkurt said, "My building can withstand 7.2 in the current regulations. If the earthquake had been 7.2 instead of 7.7, my building would not have collapsed. In a previous earthquake of magnitude 7.2 in the region, even the plaster in my building did not crack. I know what kind of materials I used in my hotel. My engineers built the hotel in the most robust way. If İsias was the only building that had collapsed, I would have gone to the rubble and ended my life."

Bozkurt, who claimed that he was not at fault at all, continued his words as follows:

"I'm devastated too. I also experienced the pain of the earthquake. Three hundred members of my family lost their lives and I was injured. I am 73 years old. On the day of the earthquake there was no water, no place to stay. We are not criminals, I reject all the slanders thrown at us. I am innocent. The only culprit is the earthquake. I need to undergo seven surgeries. I demand my release due to my ailments."

On the fourth day of the hearing of the lawsuit, an interim decision was made. The detention of arrested defendants Ahmet Bozkurt, Fatih Bozkurt, Efe Bozkurt, Erdem Yıldız and Halil Bağcı will continue, meanwhile the defendants without arrest will maintain their status with judicial control. Additionally, the request to physically bring the defendants to court was rejected.

The court also decided that the files of public officials would be referred to the prosecutor's office, and that the defendants may be sent to different prisons, contrary to their request. Witness Mustafa Murat Ahmet Kuştepe will be forcibly brought to the hearing and CCTV footage regarding the collapse will also be requested. Finally, the hearing was adjourned until April 26, 2024.

Speaking at the exit of the court after the interim decision, Fikri Ataoğlu, deputy prime minister of Northern Cyprus, said, "Our promise to the champion angels will continue, in unity and solidarity, and so will our trust in justice."

Ruşen Yücesoylu, president of Champion Angels Legacy Association, said, "It was not the decision I feared. I was actually a little worried that they would all be released. They are in an interim decision, I hope they will not get out. They will receive the heaviest punishment. The presiding judge read a lot of verdicts, we are trying to comprehend them as families. We were expecting an earlier date, but the court postponed the hearing until April 26, 2024."