Who is responsible for the deaths of 26 young volleyball players?

Over 50,000 people die in the earthquake disaster in Turkey last year. Among others, a group of students from Cyprus is buried by a collapsing luxury hotel. According to an expert report, the construction of the Isias Hotel shows considerable irregularities.

Eleven months after the severe earthquakes in Turkey, the collapse of a hotel and the deaths of young volleyball players are to be investigated in the first major trial. A hotel owner and ten other defendants have been on trial in the south-eastern Turkish city of Adiyaman since Wednesday. The public prosecutor's office accuses them of being responsible for the deaths of 72 people. According to experts, the hotel had major construction defects.

Numerous parents of the victims and observers from northern Cyprus traveled to the start of the trial. They tearfully held up signs with photos of their dead children in front of the court in Adiyaman. Rusen Karakaya, who lost her 14-year-old daughter, said: "Everyone who built the Grand Isias Hotel is guilty."

Those responsible are "murderers" and must be brought to justice. Only then would there be justice for future generations. On February 6, a 7.7-magnitude quake struck south-eastern Turkey and northern Syria at 4.17 a.m., followed by another 7.6-magnitude quake in the afternoon of the same day. According to government figures, around 50,800 people lost their lives in Turkey alone. According to an official report, more than 35,000 buildings collapsed completely and tens of thousands more were damaged.

26 dead children from volleyball teams among the victims

The Isias Hotel in Adiyaman collapsed during the first quake. It buried a group of tour guides and two volleyball school teams from Northern Cyprus with 26 children, among others. None of the children survived. The youngest victim was ten years old.

Pervin Aksoy lost her 13-year-old daughter Serin - captain of the girls' team - in the quake. Aksoy was also buried, but was able to free herself from the rubble. She traveled from Cyprus for the start of the trial, but the return was very painful for her. "After all, I left my daughter here," she says with tears in her eyes.

She doesn't have the heart to go to the remains of the hotel. There, in the middle of Adiyaman, there is still a gap between buildings that are still standing. Chunks of rock strewn with pebbles lie on the ground. Relatives have placed a poster on the rubble demanding harsher sentences for the accused. They hope that the Isias Hotel trial will set a precedent for future trials.

According to an expert report cited in the indictment, there were a number of irregularities during the construction of the Isias Hotel. Inferior building materials were used. In addition, the hotel was illegally raised by one storey. According to the report, the 30-year-old building was originally planned as a residential building, but was then given permission by the authorities to be built as a hotel in 2001.

Eleven defendants stand trial

Prior to this, construction work had been suspended for six years. Five of the eleven defendants, including the hotel owner responsible for the construction and the architect, are in custody. The public prosecutor's office is demanding a conviction for deliberate reckless homicide and injury to more than one person, among other things. In the most extreme case, the defendants could face more than 22 years in prison. The relatives, who are appearing as joint plaintiffs, on the other hand, are seeking a conviction for alleged intent, which would result in higher sentences.

The defendants were not present on the first day of the trial, but were connected via video. The 72-year-old hotel owner said in court: "The accusations are all unfounded and a lie." Rather, rumors had been spread about him and he had spared no expense in building the hotel. The earthquake had also been very strong. His statement was repeatedly interrupted by cries from relatives.

The hotel owner also pointed out that the construction had been inspected by the authorities and that there had been no complaints. A separate investigation is to clarify the responsibility of the authorities' employees who issued the permits. Karakaya's relatives say that it was not the earthquake that killed their loved ones, but those responsible for the construction. "They built a coffin." The children should actually be in Cyprus now, playing volleyball or drinking coffee with their friends. "Instead, we are fighting for justice for them."