Expert Report in İsias Case Released: Three Public Officials Found Responsible

Families of the “Champion Angels” reacted strongly, stating, “No one can escape responsibility by saying ‘I only signed the papers.’” The third hearing for the public officials will take place on 6 November in Adıyaman.

The report concluded that former Adıyaman Deputy Mayor Osman Bulut, Adıyaman Municipality Zoning Department Director Mehmet Salih Alkayış, and Construction Engineer and Permit Chief Bilal Balcı were responsible for the collapse. However, the report found that Zoning Director Yusuf Gül, Construction Control Unit Officer Abdurrahman Karaarslan, and Technical Staff Member Fazlı Karakuş bore no responsibility.

Families of the victims said it was unacceptable that not all public officials were held accountable for the tragedy, rejecting the defendants’ defence that they had “only approved or signed documents placed before them.”

Ruşen Yücesoylu Karakaya, President of the Champion Angels Association and mother of Selin, who died in the disaster, said: “If a signature helped pave the way for the killer building that claimed 72 lives, then the person behind that signature is part of the chain of death.”

Assoc. Prof. Pervin Aksoy İpekçioğlu, who lost her daughter Serin in the collapse, emphasised that those who approved incomplete or expired permits must be held accountable: “Every municipal employee who treated an expired hotel licence as valid and signed off on it with missing documents must answer for it before the court.”

Third Hearing on 6 November

The trial of the six public officials resumed after the judicial recess. The third hearing will be held on Thursday, 6 November, at 10:30 a.m. at the Adıyaman 1st High Criminal Court. Among the defendants is the former deputy mayor of Adıyaman.

Families of the victims, along with Prime Minister Ünal Üstel, several ministers, MPs, members of the Bar Association, and journalists, will once again travel to Adıyaman for the hearing.

Ahead of the proceedings, Champion Angels Association President Ruşen Yücesoylu Karakaya, Assoc. Prof. Pervin Aksoy İpekçioğlu, Bar Association President Hasan Esendağlı, and State Planning Organization Undersecretary Durali Güçlüsoy gave statements to the Turkish Cypriot News Agency (TAK) regarding the upcoming hearing of public officials.