Turkey opens investigation into 612 people after quakes – Reuters

In connection with the tragedy, 184 suspects have already been arrested awaiting trial, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said in a televised address, Reuters reported.Among those detained are 79 construction contractors, 74 people legally responsible for buildings, 13 owners and 18 people who renovated buildings, Bozdag said in a speech delivered from a focal point in Diyarbakır in southeastern Turkey. According to the minister, the evidence found in the buildings continues to serve as the basis for a criminal investigation.Most of the defendants are suspected of having cut the standards of earthquake-resistant materials in construction. According to Turkish media, among those arrested is the mayor of one of the towns near the epicenter of the first earthquake.Okkes Kavak, who leads Nurdagi district in Gaziantep province and is a member of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), was reportedly unable to obtain construction inspections. Earlier, Turkish authorities announced the establishment of an earthquake-related crimes investigation office, which will collect evidence against suspects and verify permits for the construction and operation of buildings.The opposition and experts accuse the Turkish government of failing to comply with permit regulations, suggesting that some officials have apparently approved the construction of shoddy buildings ahead of May’s legislative and presidential elections.Some analysts believe that in Turkey, building codes that meet current earthquake standards are rarely followed, resulting in thousands of buildings toppling or collapsing on residents. A video has gone viral on social media, as one of the survivors easily breaks, like a piece of dried mud, bricks, which were used mainly for the construction of cheap social housing. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged the shortcomings but blamed them for the “catastrophe of the century”.The total death toll in Turkey and Syria topped 50,000 on Sunday. More than 173,000 buildings have been destroyed and cannot be restored. AFAD, Turkey’s disaster management agency, said there were 9,470 aftershocks in the quake-hit region.“It will continue for a long time, we expect these aftershocks to last at least two years,” AFAD CEO Orhan Tatar told a press briefing in Ankara. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) estimates that the February earthquakes in Turkey alone produced a huge amount of debris. We are talking about 116 to 210 million tons of waste and ash.