How Turkey protected the powerful from earthquake accountability

For a year, The New Arab (TNA) has followed the unfolding of criminal investigations to understand patterns of negligence and corruption in the construction of private residential buildings that showed poor seismic resistance during the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake. 

The following is the complex account pieced together from reports by lawyers, engineers, architects, family victims, employees of building inspection companies, and associations across the region. Sources’ information has been verified by judicial documents from criminal investigations, with a particular focus on the provinces of Hatay and Gaziantep.

TNA’s investigation uncovers a pattern of impunity and irregularities in judicial proceedings. Turkish authorities are largely failing to prosecute, and in some cases, even properly investigate, public officials and administrations for their responsibilities.

In most cases reviewed by TNA in which public officials were indicted, their dossiers were separated, and authorisation for prosecution remained indefinitely on hold, pending higher approval. Stalled proceedings apply only to low-ranking officials, while evidence indicates that no high-ranking public officials are under investigation.