Resurfaced videos from 2019 shows Turkish president bragging about builders skirting earthquake construction codes in areas now turned to rubble

Tue, 02/14/2023 - 08:17

Two grieving people hug in front of a mound of building rubble in Hatay, Turkey, following the February 6 2023 earthquake. — Grieving relatives embrace as rescuers work to extract the bodies of a father and son from under the rubble in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Hatay, Turkey, February 14, 2023.
Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

Footage emerged of Turkey's president promoting a policy that weakened building standards, per local media.
Ahead of 2019 elections, Erdoğan boasted of how the policy helped hundreds of thousands of people.
At least 70,000 buildings in areas where last week's earthquake struck used the policy, experts say.

Resurfaced videos from 2019 show Turkey's president boasting about granting amnesty for buildings that didn't meet earthquake construction codes, according to local media.