TRNC death toll rises to 35, TRNC government to sue hotel owner, accepts aid from south Cyprus

The body of a Turkish Cypriot woman and her daughter were recovered from the wreckage of Isias Hotel in Adıyaman.

The bodies of nurse Bedriye Fidan Janissary and her daughter Ecem Janissary were found in the wreckage of the Isias Hotel as a result of the ongoing search and rescue efforts carried out by the TRNC in Turkiye. They were part of the volleyball team.

So far, 24 bodies have been recovered from the wreckage. 

The bodies of Ulaş Hüsam and his wife Bahar Hüsam, and Suat Bayram who were under the wreckage of the Teacher's House in Hatay - Kırıkhan, were found.

With this loss, the number of TRNC citizens who lost their lives in Turkey in general increased to 35, while the number of citizens whose search efforts are still continuing decreased to 13.

Also, a man identified as Adnan Bulgurcu, a trainer and his family managed to get out of the rubble in Hatay after 10 hours. A statement by the TRNC Gymnastics Federation President Hasan Sapsızoğlu said; “The fact that our teacher and our family, who stayed on the 3rd floor of the 7-storey building, managed to get out of the rubble after 10 hours, filled our hearts.” We convey our best wishes to our esteemed teacher and his family and let him know that we will always be with him as the gymnastics family."

Meanwhile, the TRNC government said it will launch a legal proceeding against the owner of the hotel. Prime Minister Üstel announced that he had instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to initiate legal proceedings regarding the structures that caused the loss of life of TRNC citizens in the earthquake disaster in Turkey.

“Our government will follow up on all technical and legal studies to be initiated in consultation with the Government of the Republic of Turkey in order to protect the rights and laws of our citizens who lost their lives or were affected by the earthquake,” Üstünel said.

“We have instructed our Ministry of Foreign Affairs to start official contacts with the Prosecutors of the Republic of Turkey in order to ensure that the necessary legal proceedings regarding the buildings where our citizens lost their lives are carried out immediately, he said.

Also, the TRNC government has finally accepted aid for earthquake victims from south of Cyprus. The Council of Ministers convened under the chairmanship of President Ersin Tatar and made decisions regarding the initiatives to be taken to ensure sampling before the wreckage of the Isias Hotel and the acceptance of aid from individuals and institutions in the Republic of Cyprus.

Within the scope of the decisions; It has been approved that the aid from the south of Cyprus will be collected at the Atatürk Sports Hall in Lefkosia and sent to Turkey via the TRNC via the UN.

It was initially claimed that the TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs opposed the transfer of the aid collected in the south of Cyprus to the north, saying "Ankara does not want".