TRNC committee monitoring legal process for 49 citizens who died in Türkiye's earthquakes

By Dilara Hamit

ANKARA (AA) - A delegation from a special committee of the Legislative Assembly of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) arrived in Türkiye’s capital Tuesday to monitor the legal and judicial process related to 49 TRNC nationals who died in the Feb. 6 earthquakes that struck southern Türkiye.

The chairman of the Provisional and Special Committee on the Monitoring of the Legal and Judicial Process Related to the Earthquakes, Oguzhan Hasipoglu, indicated that Türkiye was performing all of the necessary work for TRNC citizens' legal proceedings.

"We discovered through our discussions with ministries and commissions that there have been 1,600 investigations and 350 arrests in Türkiye thus far," he said after their meeting with Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop.

Noting that a criminal inquiry has been initiated against hotels and teacher's houses, including the Isias Hotel in Adiyaman, where 35 TRNC nationals lost their lives, Hasipolu indicated that 49 TRNC citizens were killed in the earthquakes.

Hasipolu said they have faith in Türkiye’s judiciary and justice system.

"In summation, the message conveyed to us is that whoever was negligent will pay the price."

On Feb. 6, magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes struck 11 Turkish provinces — Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hatay, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye and Sanliurfa.

Around 14 million people in Türkiye have been affected by the quakes, as well as many others in northern Syria.