Tens of thousands lost their lives in the earthquake, yet load-bearing columns are being cut in a government building!

While Turkey is still experiencing the pain of losing tens of thousands of its citizens in the February 6 earthquakes, a new addition has been made to the chain of negligence and scandals in public buildings. It has been revealed that 3 load-bearing shear walls were cut during renovation work at the 21-story general directorate building of the Turkish Electricity Transmission Corporation (TEİAŞ), which is affiliated with the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.

The operation in question poses a vital risk as it directly damages the building's load-bearing system. In Turkey, which is located in an earthquake zone, all structural interventions—especially in public buildings—must be carried out with sensitivity and oversight; this practice in the TEİAŞ building has led to comments that "risk is being created by the state itself."

Experts speaking to Nefes state that shear walls provide the structure's resistance against horizontal and vertical loads, noting that such interventions directly affect a building's capacity to remain standing.

A TEİAŞ employee speaking to NEFES emphasized that the operation was carried out completely irregularly, without any engineering analysis or official institutional approval.

While there is widespread concern that this intervention in a building already known to be old and risky could lead to a disaster in a possible earthquake, the Energy… pic.twitter.com/K2C6tv4iq3

— Merve Şişman (@mervsismn) August 2, 2025

While the lessons that should have been learned after the earthquake are clear, this operation carried out in one of the state's most critical institutions has once again laid bare the inadequacy of public safety and oversight mechanisms.

News Source: 12punto