Tülek stated that they know who is responsible for the hotel’s collapse and have proven this with reports they submitted to the court. He described the situation with these words: “We know the murderers of our children, we witnessed the crime, and we proved it with reports prepared by experts, which we submitted to the court. But the murderers and their mercenaries are trying to mislead the court, and I believe they are succeeding“.
Tülek also shared the horrific sight of finding his daughter’s lifeless body in the rubble, emphasising how flawed the building was: “I saw everything with my own eyes for a week. I saw columns I could break with my hands, welded but unreinforced iron rods, stirrup distances far above normal, and river pebbles I struggled to lift. I also saw the massive concrete roof of the illegal floor, standing atop the sand-like debris“.
He explained that the hotel was illegally converted from residential status into a hotel without a proper project, and this irregularity was carried out in collaboration with the responsible municipal officials. “We had all these findings examined by expert professors, turned them into reports, and submitted them to the court“, he said.
He said that in court, the murderers and their defenders tried to exonerate themselves with false testimonies. “We even saw the lying son who welcomed our children and teacher friends as the hotel owner but now claims to have no connection to the hotel“, he said, exposing the injustice of the process.
Tülek also pointed out the inadequacy of the expert reports prepared after the earthquake, particularly highlighting a report by Gazi University: “This report starts by saying the building collapsed due to two earthquakes and claims that the illegal floor and illegal elevator had no effect on the collapse. Without proper analysis and evaluation, you claim there was no impact from the illegal floor, whose massive concrete roof delayed me from reaching my daughter for three more days. Did you know this, or did you not care?“
Tülek expressed his diminishing hope that the new expert report would bring justice, emphasising that despite four different core tests showing poor concrete quality, the court still focused on samples taken from the building’s basement. “Was it the basement that collapsed, or the other nine floors that fell on our children?” he asked in frustration.
Highlighting how challenging the process has been, Tülek added: “The president, prime minister, ministers, political leaders, deputies, bureaucrats, military, civil defence, and volunteers—in short, as the people of the TRNC, we fought together, and we will continue to fight. But I am very tired now“.
Mehmet Tülek ended his statement by asking for the murderers of his daughter to be punished: “Give them their punishment, so I can grieve in peace and hold my head high at my daughter’s grave“.
Collapse of İsias Hotel
In Adıyaman, the İsias Hotel, which collapsed during the earthquakes centred in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, became the grave for 72 people, including 35 Turkish Cypriot athletes and teachers. The 11 defendants in the İsias Hotel case are being tried for “reckless endangerment.”
At the hearing on June 12, it was decided that the detention of the defendants Ahmet Bozkurt, Mehmet Fatih Bozkurt, and Erdem Yıldız would continue, while the other 8 defendants would be released on bail pending trial. The court also ordered the preparation of a new expert report.
Additionally, at the next hearing scheduled for October 22, the status of public officials who have been granted investigation permission will also be revealed.
The next hearing in the İsias Hotel case will take place on October 22 at 10am.
