The social pages (later removed) of the Rosenans Residanz still exalted its solidity – «built with the best safety standards» — while there were already those who hoped to find their loved ones alive under its rubble. The thermoscanners referred to the Hungarian and Romanian rescuers in action in that area “spots” of heat that could suggest survivors, even if 25 meters of debris away. More likely they were bodies that were dying out in what must have been theirs “corner of paradise”, as the advertisement for the Renaissance Residence stated, and has instead become their reinforced concrete tomb.
On this detail of the materials, however, perhaps it is better not to overreact, given the ease with which the complex of 250 apartments spread over twin blocks of 12 floors each in an area of 10,500 square meters came down. Aerial photos make it look like a fallen giant with his back to the ground while his ankles, or foundations, are stuck to the ground. AND together with the death toll, which has reached over 33 thousand, the case of the towers built only 10 years ago with «a terrace in the sky» (another promotional slogan) but without any elasticity to oppose the impact of the earthquake, it has now become a hot case for President Tayyip Erdogan.
The arrest on Friday at the Istanbul airport of the builder Mehmet Yasar Cokun as he allegedly tried to flee to Montenegro with a suitcase of money (to join his brother Yalcin, the designer), thus seemed too easy prey to feed to the hungry of justice. So much so that many speak openly of staging. The police also released photos and videos of the capture, relaunched in a whirlwind way on social media with hateful comments: “Put them under the rubble”. “God will know how to punish you.” But also of concern: “It’s not enough, we know that there are many like them”, “We have already seen these scenes, in a few months they will go back to building”. Certainly, with the elections upon us and the approval ratings declining, Erdogan is trying to distance himself from the easy but perhaps not inaccurate association between buildings, even recently built ones (there are some from 2018 and 2019) and his repeated building amnesties. Twelve more between builders and designers have been arrested in these hours with hasty inquiries, including that of the Polat Sintesi complex in Gaziantep. And 130 prosecutors have been mandated to investigate abuses, irregularities, corruption linked to the building boom which, driving through the 10 provinces affected by the earthquake, appears to have spared hills, coasts, rural areas, suburbs, without the shadow of a plan regulator. In the city of Diyarbakir alone, 33 people are being investigated for modifying buildings, including by cutting columns.
Until last Monday, Ronesans Residanz was considered one of the most exclusive “vertical” accommodations in the province of Hatay. Chosen by players such as Ghanaian Christian Atsu, formerly of Malaga and Chelsea, injured but extracted in good condition from the rubble, or like the international handball Cemal Kütahya, who died there together with his family. The Country reports the story of Sevtap Karaabdüloglu, a teacher who, after the earthquake in Van (2011) for which she ended up living in a prefab, had chosen this building precisely as a guarantee of not having to relive that trauma. THEThe official count speaks of 12,000 buildings fallen but according to the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers, 75,000 are irreparably damaged. The solidarity of the mayor of Antioch, Lütfü Sava, reached the entrepreneur who built the Ronesans: «A friend and an idealist. Did he comply with building codes? Probably yes”.