Turkish authorities (click here) have launched a crackdown on developers connected to buildings that were toppled by this week’s devastating earthquake as president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan faces growing discontent over the quality of construction in the stricken region.
The justice ministry has authorised almost 150 local prosecutors’ offices to set up earthquake investigation units to probe contractors, surveyors and other experts with links to destroyed buildings and ensure they do not flee or destroy evidence, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported late on Saturday.
In an indication that these legal processes are already underway, a contractor for a building of luxury flats in the hard-hit Hatay province in Turkey’s south was detained on Friday at Istanbul airport on his way to Montenegro, Anadolu reported. Prosecutors in Istanbul ordered the arrest after finding his flight plans, the agency said....
