A new expert report has cleared two prominent businessmen with ties to Turkey’s ruling party of responsibility in the collapse of a building that killed 35 people during deadly earthquakes in 2023, according to the Birgün daily.
The magnitude 7.8 and 7.5 earthquakes, which struck 11 provinces in Turkey’s south and southeast, left more than 53,000 people dead and hundreds of thousands injured or displaced while causing massive devastation.
The ruling has sparked outrage from victims’ families, who say justice is being undermined by political influence and wealth.
Shift in accountability
Two previous expert reports had identified Mehmet Sait Kanbur and Atila Kanbur, owners of Café Mado and the Tarhanacı Café located on the ground floor of one of the collapsed buildings, as primarily responsible for the structural failure. The reports alleged that unauthorized alterations had critically weakened the building’s foundations.
Prosecutors had initially sought prison sentences of more than 22 years on charges of negligent homicide.
However, a third report, commissioned after the defense raised objections, shifted blame away from the Kanburs. Prepared by academics from Pamukkale University, the report instead assigned primary responsibility to the building’s contractor, structural engineers and municipal authorities.
As a result, the court lifted the supervisory measures imposed on the businessmen, including travel bans and mandatory court appearances. The next hearing is scheduled for October 10.
Victims’ families decry ‘legal farce’
Mustafa Müdüroğlu, a lawyer whose mother died in the building collapse, condemned the court’s acceptance of the third report.
“This is not the rule of law, it’s the law of the powerful,” Müdüroğlu said in a post on X. “The report reduced all the evidence, photos, witness testimony and two earlier expert findings to three sentences and cleared them entirely.”
Bugün Kahramanmaraş 4. Ağır Ceza Mahkemesinde bir hukuk garabeti yaşadık. 35 kişinin katili olan MADO’nun sahipleri Paranın ve siyasetin gücü ile alınan 3. Bilirkişi raporunda kusur atfedilmedi. Fotoğraflar, tanık beyanları, önceki 2 bilirkişi raporu ve hatta sanıkların dahi… https://t.co/QMY5c2wR8Q
— Av. Mustafa Müdüroğlu (@av_mmuduroglu) May 30, 2025
He accused the court of bowing to “money and political power” and described the decision as a “legal farce.”
Political ties in focus
The Kanbur family, founders of the MADO ice cream franchise, which has more than 300 restaurants and cafes in Turkey and approximately 100 branches around the world, is widely viewed as close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was photographed being seen off at the airport by Mehmet Sait Kanbur during a visit to Kahramanmaraş in November 2024, the same day he attended a local AKP congress and an earthquake housing handover ceremony.
During the 2013 Gezi Park protests, MADO attracted criticism for closing its doors to demonstrators. In 2014 employees displayed banners supporting the AKP that read, “Our vote is rightly yours.”
Broader history of impunity
Turkey has long faced criticism for failing to hold both public officials and private contractors accountable for construction standards that have contributed to deadly disasters.
In the 1999 Marmara earthquake, which killed more than 17,000 people, few convictions were secured despite widespread structural deficiencies. Most cases ended in dropped charges or reduced sentences due to statutes of limitations or fines replacing prison sentences.
The 2023 disaster renewed calls for accountability and reform in building oversight and enforcement.