Families of Cypriot earthquake dead fly to Turkey for trial

The families of the 24 Cypriot children who were killed when the Isias hotel collapsed travelled to Turkey on Thursday ahead of the resumption of the trial of those held responsible for the collapse on Friday.

The 24 children, alongside 11 Cypriot adults and 47 others were all killed when the hotel, which is located in the city of Adiyaman, collapsed during the earthquakes in the region on February 6 last year. They had been in Adiyaman to attend a volleyball tournament during that year’s February half term holidays.

The families arrived in Adiyaman on Thursday afternoon and will be joined in the court’s viewing gallery by many high-profile Turkish Cypriot figures.

Those include the north’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel, ‘deputy prime minister’ Fikri Ataoglu, ‘education minister’ Nazim Cavusoglu, ‘deputy parliament speaker’ Fazilet Ozdenefe, Cyprus Turkish bar association chairman Hasan Esendagli, and other ‘ministers’ and ‘MPs’.

Murat Aktugrali, whose son Aras was among those killed, spoke to the Anka news agency upon his arrival in Turkey.

He said the families of those killed have “three basic expectations” from the next phase of the trial.

The first is that “those held in custody continue to be held, and that Efe Bozkurt and Halil Bagci [who were released from custody in March] be re-remanded in custody.”

The pair had been released following a report into the hotel’s collapse by Ankara’s Gazi University. The report had generated controversy as it had been much less scathing than other reports released by Trabzon’s Karadeniz Technical University and the Istanbul Technical University.

Aktugrali described Gazi University’s report as “very incomplete and technically unequipped”, and therefore said the families’ second expectation is that a new technical report into the hotel’s collapse be commissioned.

The families’ third explanation, he said, is that “the investigation should be expanded, and state officials should be included in the case file.”

“As you may remember, there were state officials whose names were mentioned in the indictment published last November,” he added.

He went on to say, “our expectation from the Republic of Turkey is actually very simple; we expect justice. I lost my son Aras Aktugrali, many families lost loved ones. There are children and fathers who lost their families completely.

“We expect the court, the Turkish judiciary, to make reasonable, lawful, and fair decisions.”

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar visited the Famagusta Turk Maarif Koleji (TMK) school, where the children studied.

He said the north has been “experiencing this pain since February 6.

“Of course, many people were lost in Turkey, and I wish them mercy, but a firebomb fell on Cyprus. We have been mourning together since then.”

He added that the Famagusta TMK “has a special place in our hearts and minds. It is our duty to heal these wounds and continue to provide education.”

Earlier in the day, he had held a telephone conversation with Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc, saying that he was “following the case closely on behalf of the grieving families and the Turkish Cypriot people.”

Tunc said he was also following developments closely.

The court case will begin a week after hundreds of people marched across northern Nicosia to demand justice, eventually gathering in front of the Turkish Embassy.

A total of 11 people who have been held responsible for the hotel’s collapse will see their trial resume on Friday, with the court having most recently convened in January.

All 11 defendants, including the hotel’s owner Ahmet Bozkurt and his two sons Mehmet Fatih Bozkurt and Efe Bozkurt, deny all wrongdoing. They stand accused of “causing death by conscious negligence”, and, if found guilty, could be jailed for up to 22 and a half years each.

However, the families of those killed and the entire Turkish Cypriot political spectrum have demanded that those charges be upgraded to charges of intentionally killing those inside the hotel.