Justice for Çorlu: ‘Turning point’ or ‘disappointment’

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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It has been nearly three years since the train derailment in Çorlu, Tekirdağ claimed the lives of 25 people, including children.

The seventh hearing of the lawsuit filed into the derailment will be held at the Çorlu Public Training Center today (March 16).

Having lost their loved ones in the train derailment in northwestern Turkey on July 8, 2018, families are determined to continue their struggle which they started, saying "Put the real responsible parties on trial."

For the families seeking justice for almost three years and now awaiting a result, today's hearing is a "turning point" as the "last expert" report on the incident foresees the extension of the list of defendants.

This report indicates that the State Railways of the Republic of Turkey (TCDD) is the "negligent" party in the derailment.

What has happened so far?

But, what happened in the process leading to the last expert report? What did the first report prepared based on the examinations hours after the derailment say? Having lost her 9-year-old son Oğuz Arda Sel in the derailment, Mısra Öz answers our question briefly as follows:

"The first experts coming to the scene of the incident on July 8 prepared the first expert report. In that report, it was written that the culvert was flawless and the TCDD had no responsibility in that regard.

"Those experts were brought to the scene of the incident in a helicopter at the night of the incident while the deceased bodies of our loved ones had not yet been taken out of the train. Next morning, they started to bring stones there and build a road. The stones put there caused the examination at the scene of the incident to be destroyed.

"That expert report paved the way for the preparation of the bill of indictment, based on which the trial would start. And, naturally, as a result of that report, the indictment said that 'the top management of the TCDD, politicians and bureaucrats were not included in the prosecution.'

"For the past three years, we have been saying that 'the real responsible parties are the top management of the TCDD, politicians, bureaucrats and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure."

Struggle and the second expert report

But there is also the second expert report. This report, written thanks to the families' struggle for justice, has been prepared after the scene of the incident was examined two years later, found "totally different" results and said that "the TCDD is the faulty party." Öz says:

"As a result of our objections, a new expert report has been prepared. This report has shown that there were negligent acts. The culvert was overdue for service, the infrastructure was not established, there was no connection whatsoever between the Directorate General of Meteorology and the TCDD, they had a lack of road watch personnel and tenders were cancelled.

"As a matter of fact, with the last expert report added to the file of the separation of the case, the second report has been confirmed.

"That report says: 'The first experts who went to the scene of the incident did not take photos or videos from the right angles.' The last experts say that 'if images had been taken from right angles on the day of the incident, we could prepare a more clear report now.'

"In summary, no maintenance was undertaken on this rail line, nothing was prepared and people were left for death. According to the report, the same thing is also true for the other rail lines in Turkey."

'There is no escape'

Öz says that they are now waiting for a result in the lawsuit:

"At the last hearing, we said that we could not go any further with four defendants. 'We want the real responsible parties,' we said. This had to be supported with reports as well.

"There has remained no escape for the court board, prosecutor and judge. At every hearing, we say, 'We want justice', but every time we are disappointed.

"Today's hearing is a turning point for the trial of the real responsible parties of the Çorlu massacre. We are awaiting such a ruling from the court board."

(DŞ/SD)