A court in Turkey has acquitted six former public officials. They were accused of responsibility for the collapse of the Isias hotel. This collapse happened during a big earthquake last year. Seventy-two people died in the disaster.
The decision has caused public anger. Families of the victims are very unhappy. They want to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. They believe Turkey's justice system is not fair enough.
The Isias hotel was in the city of Adiyaman. It fell down during the earthquake in 2023. Investigations tried to find out who was to blame for the hotel's weak structure. However, the court in Adiyaman decided to free the six officials.
This is different from earlier decisions. In 2024, the hotel's owner and architect were convicted. Victims' families say the acquitted officials are also responsible. They think the officials were careless or ignored safety rules.
Families want all twelve people involved to be charged with causing death. They believe this charge is more serious. It shows that the deaths could have been prevented.
A Member of Parliament, Sifa Colakoglu, supports the victims. She wants all twelve cases to be joined. She thinks this could show how public officials and technical experts were connected. This might lead to stronger charges.
Colakoglu said, "We expect decisions that will ensure public officials are more careful in the future." She also stated, "Seventy-two lives were lost due to one signature. There are thousands of such buildings." This shows a bigger problem with building safety. Many people think freeing the officials was a mistake. They believe the case might need to go to the ECtHR if justice is not served in Turkey.