In the disaster of the century, the Rönesans Residence, located in Ekinciler District of Antakya district, built by Antis Yapı and sold with the promise of 'a corner of paradise', was demolished. The residence consisting of 250 flats, where 269 citizens lost their lives and 13 people were injured, was destroyed within seconds of the earthquake. The indictment prepared within the scope of the investigation initiated by the Hatay Chief Public Prosecutor's Office Earthquake Investigation Bureau was accepted by the Hatay 3rd High Criminal Court.
The judicial process regarding the residence started in April 2024 and the first hearing was held. The 11th hearing of the Rönesans Residence case started on September 25 at Hatay 3rd High Criminal Court. To the hearing; Mehmet Yaşar Coşkun, the contractor of the residence who is on trial while being detained, Mehmet Haşim Eraslan and Bülent Seküçoğlu, the detained officials of the building control company, and project manager İ.D., who is on trial without being arrested, were sent from prison via SEGBİS. While he did not attend the hearing, site manager B.M. The hall was present.
Ayhan Karan, a building inspection company official who is on trial without being arrested, attended via SEGBİS. Citizens who lost their relatives at Rönesans Residence also attended the hearing. The court panel; After the hearing, which lasted 11 hours, he announced his interim decision at 21:00 on September 25, and postponed the hearing to October 26 for the continuation of the defendants' current situation and the elimination of the missing issues.
"I WANT THEM TO BE TRIALD FOR INTENSIVE MURDER AND TO MAKE A DECISION TO THAT effect"
Stating that they expect the criminals in the Rönesans case to be tried for intentional murder, Cemile Incili said, "I hope for a positive decision. We now want them to be tried for intentional death. In fact, in the last expert report, all of them were deemed to be fundamentally at fault. As of today, we are on the 19th day of 3 years, 7 months. I hope a correct decision will be made. We cannot find our loved ones after us, we cannot bring them back. But at least they will receive the necessary punishment for their faults in a correct trial, so that others do not suffer the pain we have suffered after us." "We want them to be punished for their deaths. All we want is for justice to be served. We expect a precedent for a contractor who caused the death of 300 people. This would be a separate punishment for us. All we want is for justice to be served."
WHAT HAPPENED?
In Kahramanmaraş-centered Hatay, which was hit by the earthquakes on February 6, the 12-storey Rönesans Residence, which was completed in 2013 in Ekinci District of Antakya district and whose flats were sold with the slogan 'A corner of heaven', was also destroyed. 296 people lost their lives in the residence consisting of 250 flats. Mehmet Yaşar Coşkun, the contractor of the residence where Hatayspor football player Christian Atsu, national handball player Cemal Kütahya and his son Çınar Kütahya lost their lives, was caught and arrested at Istanbul Airport on February 10.
The investigation initiated by Hatay Chief Public Prosecutor's Office Earthquake Investigation Bureau has also been completed. The prepared indictment was accepted by the Hatay 3rd High Criminal Court. In the indictment, the detained defendants are Mehmet Yaşar Coşkun, the contractor of the residence, Mehmet Haşim Eraslan and Bülent Seküçoğlu, the officials of the building inspection company, and Önder Artun, the control officer, and the undetained defendants are A.K., one of the officials of the building inspection company, and construction technician İ.D. and site manager B.M. and fugitive Hüseyin Yalçın Coşkun, brother of contractor Mehmet Yaşar Coşkun and the static project manager of the residence, construction site manager and company partner, were asked for a prison sentence of up to 22 years and 6 months each for the crime of 'causing the death of more than one person through conscious negligence'. In the indictment, which stated that the residence had 15 floors, including 2 basements, ground floors and 12 normal floors, it was stated that "As a result of the earthquake, the Rönesans Residence collapsed, 269 people lost their lives and 13 people were injured."
EXPERT DETECTED DEFECTS
In the indictment, the defects in the residence were included in the expert report prepared by Karadeniz Technical University (KTU). In the report, "As stated in the crime scene investigation and eyewitness report on February 12, 2023, it was determined that the concrete materials were cast in place and of low quality, the concrete pieces were crumbled by hand, the material was separated at the beam connection point between the iron reinforcement in the column, and the sand and gravel could be removed by hand in the reinforcement. In the core pressure test performed on the curtain and column samples, the concrete value did not meet the required criteria, column dimensions, column reinforcement area, curtain dimensions, curtain reinforcement area inadequacies and insufficient reinforcement." "Detailing issues were determined. It was observed that the window-type gap left in the outer edge columns and curtains of the northeast façade of the building above the basement floor could break and collapse at this point due to the effect of the short column. It was determined that the column stirrups were not continued in the basement floor column-beam connections, and the column stirrups were made at 90 degrees instead of 135 degrees."
ARRESTED CONTRACTOR: THE BUILDING LANDED ON ITS SIDE AND DID NOT COLLAPSE
The statement of the contractor Mehmet Yaşar Coşkun was also included in the indictment. Claiming that the building has been in use for 10 years and that there has been no problem during this period, Coşkun said in his statement:
"I don't think it was my fault. I was going to Montenegro to give the building deeds. Rönesans Residence fell on its side, there was no collapse. Even though it fell on its side in such a big earthquake, the building did not fall apart, its skeleton remained intact. This is an indication that the building was built solidly."
THEY DID NOT ACCEPT THE DEFECTS
The detained officer of the construction inspection company, Mehmet Haşim Eraslan, claimed that he did not remember whether he was an application inspector or not. Bülent Seküçoğlu, one of the detained defendants, also noted that he was the manager and one of the partners of the building inspection company that carried out the inspection of Rönesans Residence and said, "I did not undertake any inspection duty in any part of the residence. In fact, I cannot even show the location of the residence." Detained Önder Artun and the 3 undetained defendants also argued that they had no faults.
