Striking assessment from journalist Alican Uludağ: Gebze investigation could lead Transport Minister Uraloğlu to the Supreme Council

Following the collapse of the Arslan Apartment building, which claimed the lives of four members of the same family, 21 more buildings were evacuated in Gebze and an investigation was launched in the region.

Journalist Alican Uludağ, who had initially suggested that the collapse was caused by the ongoing metro construction, provided important information regarding the course of the investigation in a new post.

Stating that the research conducted points to the metro construction, Uludağ made the following statement on his social media account:

"A development in the Gebze investigation that could lead the Transport Minister to the Supreme Council...

In the experts' investigation regarding the collapsed building in Gebze, it was determined that the metro construction passes directly underneath the building. Experts determined that the collapse occurred due to a subsidence under the building. It was found that the collapse of voids formed due to the drainage of underground water during the metro construction was effective in this subsidence.

In other words, the findings indicate that the metro construction triggered the collapse that took the lives of 4 people...

Moreover, a 2017 report on the metro included warnings regarding the expropriation of buildings around the metro station and the monitoring of ground movements. Five months ago, citizens had also warned the Ministry of Transport, saying, "there are cracks in our homes." 

However, no precautions were taken. 

All eyes are on the official report to be written by expert faculty members from the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, AFAD, and universities....

The collapse that left Dilara without a family

Today marks the 6th day since the 7-story Arslan Apartment building in the Gebze district of Kocaeli collapsed on October 29 at 06:57...

18-year-old Dilara Bilir, who was rescued alive from the rubble, lost her 44-year-old father Levent Bilir, 37-year-old mother Emine Bilir, 12-year-old Emir Bilir, and 14-year-old Nisa Bilir in this collapse.

The collapse that left Dilara Bilir without a family was not caused by her own negligence, an earthquake, or any explosion. In fact, experts from the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change determined in their inspection of the building that the Arslan Apartment was among the most solid structures in the region. In other words, the problem was not with the building, but with the ground.

The work of AFAD, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, and expert faculty members from universities, who have been conducting examinations in the region with technical equipment for 6 days, is nearing its end.

AFAD agrees that the collapse was not caused by an earthquake...

Official experts have detected a subsidence under the collapsed building in the work carried out so far. This caused the collapse. Experts investigating the cause of this subsidence reached the Gebze-Darıca Metro tunnel of the Ministry of Transport, which passes directly underneath.

Experts investigating the impact of the metro on the collapse determined that the voids formed in the ground directly under the building collapsed over time. Experts found that the underground water, which has a calcareous soil structure, drained and created voids under the ground. Experts are focusing on the possibility that the tunnel opened during the metro construction caused this water to drain.

Due to the metro construction, these voids could not carry the load of the residences in the region, and a collapse occurred. Such a collapse occurred exactly under the collapsed Arslan Apartment.

To finalize the work, experts decided to conduct deeper drilling in the area where the Arslan Apartment collapsed. It was learned that the report will be announced shortly.

The Gebze Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, which is conducting the investigation, is waiting for the official report to issue detention orders. 

A report was prepared saying 'precautions must be taken'

On the other hand, according to the news by Nazım Özgün Erbulan from the Özgür Kocaeli newspaper, a 2017 report on the Gebze-Darıca Metro Line has emerged. In the Akse Sapağı Station Excavation Shoring Report, while it was stated that the structures opposite the collapsed building should be expropriated and evacuated, expressions such as closely monitoring problems that may occur during excavation drew attention.

The report states:

"It is recommended to establish a suitable instrumentation system to regularly monitor displacements (displacement movements in the ground and structures) in the excavation shoring elements and surrounding structures during the excavation. At least 4-6 weeks before starting the excavation to be carried out in the region, it would be appropriate to perform a current status check of the buildings located around the excavation area (including buildings under construction) and to follow the displacements belonging to the relevant buildings and the excavation shoring system with regular readings to be made during the excavation, and to take appropriate measures without losing time if necessary by evaluating the results. It is recommended to establish a suitable instrumentation system for observing the displacements that will occur.”

In other words, the report warns, "Carry out expropriation, monitor the movements in the ground and structures during the metro construction."

However, no expropriation has been carried out to date. At that time, the expropriation should have been carried out by the Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality, the owner of the metro. Kocaeli Mayor Tahir Büyükakın is silent on why he did not carry out this expropriation at that time....

The metro was later transferred to the Ministry of Transport.

Meanwhile, on May 26, 2025, cracks in the buildings in the region caused by the metro construction were reported to the Ministry of Transport via CİMER. However, because no precautions were taken to date, the Arslan Apartment collapsed.

The information that has emerged so far puts forward 4 separate people as responsible for the collapse that took the lives of 4 people from the Bilir family:

1-) Transport Minister Uraloğlu

2-) Kocaeli Metropolitan Mayor Tahir Büyükakın

3-) Gebze Mayor Zinnur Büyükgöz

4-) Executives of the company that won the metro tender

Now, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Uraloğlu must answer these questions:

1- According to the Akse Sapağı Station Excavation Shoring Report, the buildings around this station needed to be expropriated. Why were these buildings not expropriated in the intervening years?

2- Was a suitable instrumentation system established to monitor the displacement movements that would occur due to the construction?

3- What examinations were carried out in the region upon the application made via CİMER in May 2025? What kind of findings were reached?

4- Why did you not take precautions even though you knew about the cracks in the buildings in the region?"

Gebze soruşturmasında Ulaştırma Bakanı'nı Yüce Divan'a götürecek gelişme...

Gebze'deki çöken binaya ilişkin uzmanların araştırmasında, binanın tam altından metro inşaatının geçtiği belirlendi. Uzmanlar binanın altında yaşanan göçme nedeniyle yıkımın olduğunu belirledi. Bu… pic.twitter.com/tMHe6W16fB

— Alican Uludağ (@alicanuludag) November 3, 2025

News Source: 12punto