Turkish court jails hotel owner and architects in earthquake trial

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A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced the owner and architect of a hotel where 72 people died after it collapsed following an earthquake last year to more than 18 years in prison.

The dead included 26 members of a school volleyball team from northern Cyprus. The Grand Isias Hotel in Adiyaman collapsed after the February 2023 earthquake that killed 55,000 people in Turkey.

The court in Adiyaman sentenced hotel owner Ahmet Bozkurt to 18 years and five months in prison for “intentional negligence causing the death or injury of more than one person,” the official Anadolu news agency reported.

His son Mehmet Fatih Bozkurt was sentenced to 17 years and four months in prison and architect Erdem Yilmaz received 18 years and five months in prison on the same charge, Anadolu added.

An AFP team saw the hotel completely razed to the ground.

The regional government declared a nationwide mobilization and chartered a private plane to take part in a search and rescue operation for the volleyball team members.

Speaking to reporters after the court ruling, Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Unal Ustel said the sentences were too lenient and that the case would be taken to a higher court.

“Hotel owners did not receive the punishment we expected,” Ustel said. “Nevertheless, everyone from those responsible for building the hotel to the architects were condemned. We were partly happy about that.”

The hotel collapse sparked sharp criticism of the government for allowing the construction of a building without the necessary permits.

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