Greed behind Soma mine disaster, Turkish court hears

ANKARA

 The Soma company at the centre of Turkey's worst mining accident neglected warnings about its mine in the Aegean region and failed to fulfil security measures in its pursuit of profit, a Turkish court has said.

Lawyer Ali Arslan, the head of the Manisa bar association, made the comments on Thursday as the trial resumed into the disaster, in which 301 miners died in May last year.

Speaking to reporters after the accusations were read out in court, Arslan said: "301 lives are lost through the greed of making money."

Arslan claimed the Soma company neglected warnings about the mine and did not fulfil security measures. 

He said: "After taking over the mine in 2009, the company produced 3,500 tons of coal while it should have been 500 tons per year, made 4,000 workers operate instead of 2,000, and did not make any security investments."

Mahmut Aydin, the lawyer for Gulsum Colak, the mother of deceased worker Ugur Colak, said there was physical and psychological violence in the mine as workers were pushed to produce more and could hardly find time for meals.

'Tremendous pressure'

Arzu Kilic, mother of the deceased Sezai Kilic, said her son had been told he had to resume work after only a 10-minute break, while his father Zafer Kilic said his son and other workers were put under "tremendous pressure" by the subcontractors. 

Defendant Can Gurkan, the CEO of Soma Holding, began his statement in court by apologizing to the victims' families, which was met by derisory chants. 

Gurkan said he and his employees had not had the opportunity to investigate the disaster as they had been arrested immediately after the incident, and claimed the expert report had been prepared without anyone visiting the disaster area.

Dismissing charges against him concerning "eliminating deficiencies in the mine", Gurkan said: "There is nothing I didn't provide based upon the requests I received."

'Negligence' charges

Eight of the defendants in custody are standing trial on charges of first-degree murder, and could each face 20 to 25 years in prison on 301 consecutive offences.

The eight defendants are also on trial with "causing aggravated injury" and may face two to six years for 162 consecutive offences. 

A total of 12 of 37 defendants, who have been held without arrest, are standing trial for "causing multiple deaths and injuries through negligence" and may face two to 15 years in jail. 

The remaining 25 defendants are on trial for "conscious negligence" and may face an additional one-third to a half of the two-to-15 year period. 

The Soma disaster, which took place in Turkey's Aegean region, left 301 minders dead and 486 injured on May 13, 2014.

The tragedy - the worst mining incident in Turkey's history - was caused by an explosion and fire which filled the mine's shafts with carbon monoxide gas.