The earthquake which among others, killed 72 people who were staying at the hotel including 35 students and teachers from a Famagusta school.
Bozkurt, who was giving evidence at the Adıyaman Courthouse, stated the following:
“I received permission from the municipality for this building as a commercial residence in 1992. This was allowed. It was stated that it was within the scope of the 4th degree earthquake zone, and we prepared the project accordingly. I do not accept any of the slanders thrown at me. These slanders are spread through hearsay. I am a well-known person in this region, these are false statements. These allegations are made because I am a well-known person in Adıyaman.
“I don’t know how the construction was done, it was never used as a house. The allegations are unfounded. Those who can’t stand me are making these allegations, and the press is also involved in this. They claim that we included the next building into the hotel. This is a lie.
“No illegal floors were added, I created an area to prevent water leakage. They also slander my family. None of them are real. There is nothing illegal in my hotel. The high intensity of the earthquake caused what happened. This earthquake had a magnitude of 10, a Japanese scientist said this.
“Like other buildings, my building was also destroyed. If even one of the slanders were true, I would go to the rubble and end my life”.
A structural report stated that the wrong type of materials had been used in the construction of the building and that key support pillars had been removed. It also states that the foundations were only intended to support a four storey building. Whereas the hotel was 10 storeys high.
*Following a series of earthquakes, there was widespread damage in an area of about 350,000 km2 (140,000 sq mi), about the size of Germany. 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]
