Turkey earthquake : authorities are multiplying arrests among building contractors

Photo : EPA-EFE/DENIZ TEKIN

In the city's most luxurious building, only mountains of rubble and the skeleton of the ground floor remain. In Antakya, in southern Turkey, it took only 80 seconds for the twelve-story tower and its 250 apartments to collapse, unable to resist the violence of the earthquake that struck the country on Monday at dawn. Out of the thousand residents who lived there, only a few tens of names appear on a short list of survivors, hanging at the entrance of the residence, named by a sad coincidence "Rönesans" (Renaissance). "My friend was inside, I'm looking for his name. I don't see it," says a young man, eyes fixed on the pages, in the 20H news of TF1.

The residents were buried in the building's collapse. Among them is Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu, who has not yet been found according to his loved ones, or Mustafa's parents, who are still under the rubble. Yet, the couple had made this housing the investment of their life. "It's just a cemetery now. I'm angry, but I don't know who to blame," sighs their son, with a blank gaze. Behind him, a bulldozer is active amidst the debris. "They chose this residence because it was supposed to be solid and resist earthquakes," explains his cousin Hasan. "That's what they were told, but unfortunately, it wasn't true."

The residence, which promised high-end services, with a pool and private parking, was completed only ten years ago, in 2013. In the neighborhood where it was located, hundreds of similar ten-story and above buildings are also located, but almost all are still standing after the earthquake. "Rönesans" is one of the few to have collapsed.

"The ground shouldn't have given way like that"

"Turkey follows seismic codes in theory with a high level," explained Boris Weliachew, architect and major risk specialist, on LCI on Friday. Ankara has adopted a series of standards and regulations that are regularly revised, but new buildings may present "poor implementation," said the expert. According to engineers and architects, builders are able to bypass the rules by entrusting the controls to private companies, with whom they negotiate a friendly agreement that can give them a great deal of latitude.

Suspected of not respecting the seismic construction laws of the region, the real estate promoter of the site, Mehmet Yasar Coskun, was arrested at Istanbul airport as he tried to flee the country. A scene immortalized in a video in which the contractor sees himself being handcuffed. His photo is widely shared throughout the country, where anger is rising against the building mafias, a sentiment echoed in the media and on social networks.

To the point that authorities are multiplying arrests and arrest warrants: in seven days, three people have been arrested, seven arrested, including two other promoters who tried to escape to Georgia, and 114 are still wanted, announced Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag. In total, 134 investigations have been launched into the quality of the construction of buildings and the supervision of their realization.