Owner of Turkey quake hotel that collapsed is jailed for 17 years

has been sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Ahmet Bozkurt managed the Isias Grand Hotel in Adiyaman, which underwent devastating destruction on 6 February 2023, resulting in 72 fatalities.

He was found guilty of 'conscious negligence', and his son, Mehmet Fatih, received a jail sentence of over 15 years.

A total of 39 students from a school volleyball team in Northern Cyprus were staying at a hotel in Adiyaman when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the city.

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Among those who gave testimony against the hotel owner was Osman Akin, a physical education teacher from Northern Cyprus, who had suffered the loss of two of his children during the hotel collapse.

The high level of damage can be attributed to the shortfall in construction quality and the Government's inability to enforce building rules in regions prone to earthquakes.

Bozkurt denied all allegations against him and maintained that he was not guilty of any wrongdoing.

He claimed that the incident was 'the disaster of the century', remarking that 'my hotel was severely damaged, similar to 850,000 other buildings'.

Dissatisfied with the progress on the construction of the hotel, the individual revealed that architect Erdem Yıldız and civil engineer Halil Bağcı were jailed, with the former being issued a sentence of more than 17 years, while the latter received a penalty of seven years and 16 months in prison.

Hartanah has also jailed Hasan Aslan for 15 years and Mehmet Göncüoğl for seven years in prison.

Five individuals, namely Bilge Açık, Efe Bozkurt, Seda Zeren, Şule Özbek, and Ulviye Bozkurt, have been released from charges.

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