Turkish Cypriots travel to Adiyaman for earthquake hotel trial

A delegation of Turkish Cypriots travelled to the Turkish city of Adiyaman on Tuesday for the beginning of the trial of those held responsible for the collapse of the Isias hotel, in which 35 Turkish Cypriots, including 24 children, were killed.

The trial of the 11 accused is set to begin on Wednesday.

The delegation, which included families of those killed as well as dignitaries including ‘ministers’, opposition party leaders, other ‘MPs’, lawyers, and architects, boarded a flight to Gaziantep at 8am.

From there, they boarded buses organised by the ‘prime minister’s’ office to Adiyaman. The ‘prime minister’ himself, Unal Ustel, is expected to travel to Adiyaman via Urfa on Tuesday evening.

Reports conducted regarding the construction and structural integrity of the Isias hotel confirmed that supporting columns had been cut in the building, and that sand and gravel from a river had been used in its construction.

Additionally, it was discovered that an extra floor had been illegally built on top of the already compromised structure in 2016. The floor was subsequently legalised during a “zoning amnesty” two years later.

The publishing of the reports and confirmation of the manner in which the hotel was built confirmed the children’s parents’ view that those responsible should be charged with intentionally killing the children.

The Adiyaman chief public prosecutor’s office has instead put forward a case of causing death by negligence, which carries a lighter sentence, but the families of those killed saw this as insufficient.

Lawyer Pervin Aksoy, whose daughter Serin was among those killed, said “you stole everything from us, our whole life is over. Everything has been shattered, our lives are lost, how can you think of getting away with such a light punishment?”