Newsnomics AJAY ANGELINA reporter | The government of Turkey has launched a crackdown on developers connected to buildings that were toppled in the massive earthquake struck on Feb.6
Turkey’s ministry of justice has authorized almost 150 local prosecutors’ offices to set up earthquake inves-
tigation units to probe contractors, surveyors and other experts with links to destroyed buildings and ensure
they do not flee or destroy evidence, reported by the state-run Anadolu news agency late on Sunday.
President Erdogan’s move comes after Turkish politicians vowed to investigate poor construction quality after
the massive results of the earthquake.
Turkish justice minister Bekir Bozdag said, “all those who had negligence and fault will be held accountable.”
Some experts have urged the government not to clear the rubble in order to collect evidence against
property developers.
Civil engineers said many construction projects in Turkey’s south-east were undertaken with insufficient protection against ground shaking in a region that is known to be vulnerable to earthquakes.
An Analyst, Semi Koru at the Ankara based think-tank Tepav said, he was skeptical that there would be any
board reckoning for the construction sector given its importance in Turkey, although a few “bad apples” were
likely to be prosecuted.
According to official data, construction accounts for about 5% of Tukey’s economic output.
Until now, the world's deadliest earthquake in over a decade has killed more than 35,000 people in Turkey
and neighboring Syria, and left many injured and without home, food or heat in the middle of winter.
Erdogan’s pledged to erect hundreds of thousands of seismically safe buildings within a year in a massive re-
construction effort as his government is facing rising criticism.
“We will not leave any of our citizens dead or alive, under the rubble. We will quickly begin removing debris
and rebuilding activities. We are making plans to rebuild hundreds of thousands of houses of buildings and
infrastructure, or rather, establish anew our cities that were destroyed in the earthquake, “said Erdogan.
According to God’s will, we will complete the construction and reconstruction within a year.”
