In a written statement made by the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Turkish Cultural Association prior to the second hearing of the Isias Hotel case to be held in Adıyaman on April 26th, it expressed belief that after a fair trial, everyone responsible will receive the harshest punishment they deserve.
The statement indicated that the trial against those responsible for the Isias Hotel, where 72 people lost their lives along with the “Champion Angels” during the February 2023 earthquakes centred in Kahramanmaraş and devastated Adıyaman,* is just days away. The statement included the following:
“We deeply mourn the loss of our Champion Angels from the Gazimağusa Turkish Maarif College volleyball team. We extend our condolences to all our lost Angels, may they rest in peace, and offer our heartfelt sympathies to their families and our nation once again.
With Isias, the hearts of our people have been shattered, lives have been lost. We still carry this pain in our hearts. As long as we live, we will continue to endure this pain. Ensuring that all responsible parties receive the punishments they deserve as a result of the trial, which deeply shook our country and will not bring back our losses, will prevent such disasters from occurring in similar earthquakes in the future.”
The Cyprus Turkish Cultural Association stated in its announcement that it hopes this case will set a precedent not only for the 72 individuals who lost their lives in the hotel but also for the pursuit of justice for all those who lost their lives in the earthquake.
The statement included the following:
“This case is actually a symbol of a joint struggle to create safe living spaces in the future. Sensitivity is of great importance to us. We believe that after a fair trial, everyone responsible will receive the harshest punishment they deserve. Therefore, we are now shouting our demand for justice louder and stronger than ever before, Isias is our shared cause…”
*On 6 February 2023, at 04:17 TRT (01:17 UTC), a Mw 7.8 earthquake struck southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria. The confirmed death toll in Turkey was 53,537; estimates of the number of dead in Syria were between 5,951 and 8,476. It is the deadliest earthquake in what is now present-day Turkey since the 526 Antioch earthquake and the deadliest natural disaster in its modern history.
An estimated 14 million people, or 16 percent of Turkey’s population, were affected. Development experts from the United Nations estimated that about 1.5 million people were left homeless. [Wiki]
