TKP: 'We will not let those who authorized those constructions off the hook'

The Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) Hatay Provincial Organization announced today that it has filed a criminal complaint to draw attention to the ongoing problems.

A press conference was held, which was also attended by the TKP Defne District Mayoral Candidate Hizam Hasırcı. The statement, which noted that guilty contractors were awarded tenders as a reward instead of receiving punishment, said: "We will not let those who built the buildings that became graves for hundreds of our citizens, and those who authorized those constructions, off the hook. Today, we submitted our criminal complaint petition to the Hatay Chief Public Prosecutor's Office; we will follow the investigation and will not stop until all those responsible are put on trial."

"AN ARREST WARRANT WAS ISSUED FOR ONLY ONE CONTRACTOR"

The full text of Hasırcı's statement is as follows:

"Since the earthquake, the people of Hatay have struggled with unresolved housing problems, electricity and water outages, and the demolition and debris removal process carried out without water, ignoring human health. You abandoned us to die in the earthquake, you abandoned us to die in the cold, you abandoned us to die in the heat. As if this were not enough, instead of holding those who brought our houses down on our heads accountable and putting them on trial, you rewarded them with tenders.

In the Emlak Bank Residences located in our Antakya district, 370 people lost their lives and hundreds were injured. There was an arrest warrant for only one of the contractors who built those residences. Mehmet Özat was recognized and caught by earthquake survivor relatives in Ankara. Özat, who could not be found for months despite an arrest warrant, was detained by chance.

"YOU HAVE AN ACCOUNT TO SETTLE WITH THESE PEOPLE"

What about the other partners?

The two partners of Aslar İnşaat ve Ticaret Anonim Şirketi were showered with tenders, not punishments. Mimaray İnşaat, a company owned by İhsan Aydeğer, is one of the companies that received the tender for the construction of 504 earthquake houses and barns in Hatay, worth 1 billion 614 million 835 thousand TL. Another partner, Erten Elçi, while being the owner of the company that built the runway of Hatay Airport that collapsed in the earthquake, in addition to the Emlak Bank Residences, was also awarded a tender for the construction of 933 houses, as well as infrastructure and landscaping work in the earthquake zone. You have an account to settle with these people.

We will not let those who built the buildings that became graves for hundreds of our citizens, and those who authorized those constructions, off the hook. Today, we submitted our criminal complaint petition to the Hatay Chief Public Prosecutor's Office; we will follow the investigation and will not stop until all those responsible are put on trial. The Communist Party of Turkey has been by our citizens' side since the first hours of the earthquake and will continue to be by their side. Next on the agenda is to settle accounts with the system of rent-seeking and plunder that has collapsed on our citizens' homes and to stop the dispossession operation that has begun against our working people.

"WE WILL NOT HAND OVER OUR CITY, DESTROYED BY THE EARTHQUAKE, TO YOU"

With a law passed in parliament with 237 votes, as a result of 195 opposition MPs not participating in the vote, neighborhoods in Hatay's Antakya and Defne districts, where approximately 50 thousand people live, were declared reserve building areas, including both damaged and undamaged structures. We will not allow rent-seeking and plunder! We call on all our people to fight together against this law that has collapsed on our homes. We will not hand over our city, destroyed by the earthquake, to you.

Communist Party of Turkey Hatay Provincial Organization"