Arrests began in Antalya due to the death of tourists: according to the Turkish media, as part of the investigation of the accident on the cable car in Antalya (details in the article “A video of a tragedy appeared in Turkey: the bottom of the cabin of the cable car with tourists fell off, there are casualties“) 14 people were detained, five of them were arrested, and eight were left under judicial control. One person has been released. This was announced by the Minister of Justice Yilmaz Tunch. Interestingly, among those arrested is Mesut Kojagez, who was elected as the mayor of Kepez in the local elections, and is also the general director of the ANET company, which owns the cable car. And they are trying to give the case a political context.
We will remind you that on the evening of Friday, April 12, near Konyaalti in Antalya, a terrible accident happened with tourists riding on a cable car. In one of the booths, the bottom came off, as a result of which 8 people fell to the ground, one of them died. It is known about the cable car that it has been operating since 2017 and underwent annual scheduled maintenance. At the same time, eyewitnesses said that they heard the sound of an explosion a moment before the accident.
All those arrested were accused of “causing death and bodily harm through negligence.” At the same time, the aforementioned Mesut Kojagez, who testified in court, said that he left the position of chairman of the board of directors of the company and resigned from the position of general manager on November 28, 2023, precisely in connection with applying for candidacy for the post of mayor. He emphasized that during his work, the company had no problems with the cable car for about six and a half years. He also added that he had no information about the overhaul and annual maintenance carried out before the accident and that the cable car was put into operation during the reign of the general director before him.
However, in the Turkish media, party members of the arrested mayor – he belongs to the oldest opposition party NRP (People’s Republican Party) state that the mayor’s arrest is biased and “this decision is not a legal one, but a political one.” They declare that they want to make the mayor a “scapegoat”, including for belonging to the opposition. And they promise to “closely monitor” the investigation of the case.