Earthquakes in Turkey: 600 people under investigation due to destroyed buildings

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According to BBC, on Saturday, February 25, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said that 184 suspects, including building contractors and property owners, had already been arrested. Authorities said two weeks ago that 113 arrest warrants had been issued.

According to Turkish media, among those arrested is the mayor of a town close to where the quakes occurred.

For years, experts have been warned that pervasive corruption and government policies mean many new buildings are unsafe.

The confirmed death toll in Turkey and Syria now exceeds 50,000. More than 160 000 buildings have collapsed or been severely damaged in Turkey since the earthquakes, raising questions about whether the effects of the disaster have exacerbated human shortcomings.

Opposition parties and some construction experts accuse President Erdogan's administration of failing to comply with building regulations and attempts to absolve themselves of the overall blame for the disaster. They say government policy has allowed so-called amnesties for contractors who have violated building codes to incentivize construction boom, including in earthquake-prone regions.

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