Turkey earthquake building collapse legal proceedings

Legal proceedings in Turkey regarding apartment building collapses during the February 6 earthquakes have progressed from investigations and sentencing requests to the delivery of verdicts.

In Diyarbakır, prosecutors sought over 22 years of imprisonment for three former municipal officials in the Serin-2 Apartment case, following technical reports indicating structural columns had been cut and concrete failed to meet standards. Meanwhile, families in Adıyaman reported significant delays in expert reports for the Zümrüt Apartment case, which resulted in 25 deaths.

By late October, courts began issuing sentences in several major cases. In Kahramanmaraş, the 4th High Criminal Court sentenced eight defendants in the Said Bey Sites case, where 44 people died, with the contractor receiving 11 years and 1 month for ‘causing the death and injury of multiple people through conscious negligence.’ In Gaziantep, an appellate court overturned a previous acquittal in the Furkan Apartment collapse case, which caused 51 deaths, resulting in sentences of up to 16 years and 8 months for various business owners and technical supervisors.