Nine sentenced to prison six years after Çorlu train accident

TEKİRDAĞ

After six years of legal proceedings, the verdict has been pronounced in the case surrounding the tragic train accident in the northwestern city of Tekirdağ's Çorlu district that killed 25 individuals and left hundreds injured.

Nine out of the 13 defendants involved have been sentenced to prison terms. Among them are four public officials who have been arrested and incarcerated.

Nihat Aslan, the former regional director of the Turkish State Railways (TCDD), received a 15-year prison sentence, while then regional maintenance manager Mümin Karasu was sentenced to 17 years and six months behind bars.

Turgut Kurt, a railway maintenance director, received a prison sentence of 16 years and three months, while Özkan Polat was sentenced to 13 years and nine months behind bars. These four defendants have been arrested and remanded to prison following the verdict.

Other maintenance heads Levent Meriçli was sentenced to nine years and two months, and Nizamettin Aras to eight years and four months.

Engineers Tevfik Baran Önder received a 10-year prison term, with Deniz Parlak and Kubilay Başkaya sentenced to nine years and two months each.

Conversely, defendants Levent Kaytan, Burhan Ortancıl, Çetin Yıldırım and Celalettin Çabuk were acquitted.

The verdict hearing was followed by various political figures and representatives from non-governmental organizations, including main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel.

"If this result is achieved today, this is a gain, the success of those who resist, their victory," Özel said after the hearing. "There is no one stronger than the people. As long as we fight together, evil will continue to lose."

The incident unfolded on July 8, 2018, when a passenger train traveling from Edirne's Uzunköprü district to Istanbul derailed near Çorlu.

The accident resulted in the loss of 25 lives, including seven children, and left 340 individuals injured. According to the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry, heavy rains caused the ground between the culvert and the rails to collapse, leading to the derailment of five of the train's six cars.

The legal proceedings were initiated following an investigation launched in September 2022, which led to the expansion of the case against nine additional defendants. Mümin Karasu, one of the defendants, was arrested in October 2022 but was released the next month with a travel ban imposed on him, following an objection to his detention.