The trial of the 11 people who are held responsible for the deaths of 24 Cypriot children and 11 of their teachers and coaches when the hotel in which they were staying collapsed is to resume on Friday.
The Isias hotel in the Turkish city of Adiyaman collapsed on February 6 last year during the earthquakes which hit the region, killing the 35 Cypriots and 47 others.
The Cypriots made up the Famagusta Turk Maarif Koleji (TMK) school volleyball team and were in Adiyaman for a tournament. Following their deaths, the team received the nickname “champion angels”.
A total of 11 people stand accused of “causing death by conscious negligence” at Adiyaman’s third High criminal court, and, if found guilty, could face a maximum of 22 and a half years in prison each.
All 11 defendants, including the hotel’s owner Ahmet Bozkurt and his two sons Mehmet Fatih Bozkurt and Efe Bozkurt, denied all wrongdoing when the court most recently convened in January.
Defendants Efe Bozkurt and Halil Bagci had been held in custody following the first phase of the trial but were subsequently released following the publishing of a report into the hotel’s collapse by Ankara’s Gazi University.
The report generated controversy as it had been much less scathing than other reports released by Trabzon’s Karadeniz Technical University and the Istanbul Technical University.
Murat Aktugrali, whose son Aras was among those killed, described the Gazi University report as “very incomplete and technically unequipped”, and said that families of those killed would now demand a new technical report be commissioned.
He added that the investigation into the case “should be expanded”, and that “state officials should be included in the case file”.
The trial is set to begin at 9am.
The trial is being attended by the families of the 24 children, who will be joined in the court’s viewing gallery by high-profile Turkish Cypriot figures including the north’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel, ‘education minister’ Nazim Cavusoglu, Cyprus Turkish bar association chairman Hasan Esendagli, and other ‘ministers’ and ‘MPs’.
Speaking ahead of the trial on Thursday evening, Rusen Yucesoylu Karakaya, whose daughter Selin was among those killed, said, “we will defend our case as always”.
“Coming to Adiyaman was difficult, but we will overcome it. Neither fatigue nor pain will deter us. Tomorrow, we will show the criminals all the facts and they will regret it. Science will prevail,” she said.
She added that the Isias case will “set a precedent”, and that “our fight is for the champion angels as well as everyone who lost their lives in the earthquakes.”
Meanwhile, Adiyaman mayor Abdurrahman Tutdere told news website Kibrisli Gazete that “the pain in this city is still fresh and consciences are continuing to bleed.”
Tutdere, who belongs to opposition party the CHP, was elected to office in Turkey’s historic local elections last month, and said “our people gave us a new duty after March 31”.
He said his municipality has begun working to make changes to planning laws to protect against future earthquakes, and that he is in contact with the Turkish parliament on the matter.
“Continuing the system with the current pre-earthquake regulations without changing the laws will leave us unprepared for future natural disasters,” he said.
He added that the “necessary legal studies” must be carried out, and that the Turkish parliament must implement their findings.
