31 arrested in Türkiye's Malatya after quakes

The chief public prosecutor’s office of the Turkish province of Malatya on February 13 has decided to arrest 31 people within the scope of an investigation into buildings that collapsed during last week’s deadly earthquakes.

Turkish authorities have begun to arrest contractors over buildings that collapsed during the catastrophe.

On February 13, Nazmi Tosun, the construction supervisor and technical representative of Emre Apartment, which was demolished in Gaziantep, was detained in Istanbul.

Police arrested Hasan Alpargun in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) after several buildings made by his construction company collapsed in the southern Adana province, according to security forces. Prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Alpargun on suspicion of reckless manslaughter and other charges.

Contractor Ibrahim Mustafa Uncuoğlu was arrested in Istanbul after a technical examination of the wreckage of an apartment building in the Gaziantep province indicated negligence and usage of sub-standard material.

Istanbul police arrested another contractor, Mehmet Ertan Akay after his building collapsed during the quake in Gaziantep. Prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Akay on charges of reckless manslaughter and building code violations.

Mehmet Yaşar Coşkun, the contractor of a large residential building in the hard-hit Hatay province, was also taken into custody on February 11.

Earlier, security forces arrested Coşkun at Istanbul Airport on his way to Montenegro in an attempt to flee Türkiye. Coşkun claimed that he did not know why the building was demolished and that his flight to Montenegro had nothing to do with the collapsed building.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ on February 8 vowed to take action against negligence and flaws after the deadly quakes.

Clarifying that the priority now is to save people who are trapped under the rubble, Bozdağ pledged: "After that, the judicial process will follow. All those who were negligent and at fault will be held accountable."

The arrests come as the Justice Ministry has instructed prosecutor's offices in 10 provinces affected by two major earthquakes in Türkiye's southeast to establish "Earthquake Crimes Investigation Departments" on February 11.

"Efforts will be made to identify the contractors, technically responsible and inspectors of the destroyed buildings, as well as other responsible persons,” read a ministry statement.

Public outrage has spread on social media about construction companies and their inability to maintain building standards that could have dramatically reduced the catastrophic toll of the earthquakes.

The quake has become the region's deadliest natural disaster in over 80 years.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centred in the Kahramanmaraş province, affected over 13 million people across 10 provinces, also including Adana, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Şanlıurfa.

Aerial footage from over the earthquake zone in Türkiye revealed entire neighbourhoods of high-rises reduced to twisted metal, pulverized concrete and exposed wires.