Turkish authorities have arrested the developer of a large residential complex that was destroyed this week by a strong earthquake..

The contractor for the construction of luxury apartments in the province of Hatay in southern Turkey, which suffered almost the most, was detained on Friday at the airport in Istanbul, from where he wanted to leave for Montenegro. This is reported by the state news agency Anadolu..

Istanbul prosecutor's office issues arrest warrant after learning man is on the run.

After the earthquake that killed more than 22,000 people in Turkey and thousands more in Syria, Turkish politicians vowed to investigate the poor quality of construction. Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said earlier this week that all those responsible for criminal negligence will be held accountable..

Erdogan has already pledged to carry out a massive renovation and build hundreds of thousands of seismically safe buildings within a year..

“We will not leave any of our citizens under the rubble: neither dead nor alive. We are already making plans to restore hundreds of thousands of homes and infrastructure,” the President said..

Five days after the earthquake, about 14,000 rescuers are still trying to find survivors.. Some experts urged the government not to rush to clear the rubble to collect evidence against developers. Civil engineers said many construction projects in southeast Turkey were carried out with insufficient protection against earthquakes in a region known to be vulnerable to this phenomenon..

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Large-scale nationwide construction projects have been a hallmark of Erdogan's two decades as Turkey's leader, but opponents have repeatedly criticized the president for poor construction quality and a tendency to contract with loyal contractors..

Construction accounts for about 5% of Turkey's economic output, according to official figures..

Criticism of Erdogan is growing stronger, both because of construction problems and because of the government's response to the disaster. In turn, the Turkish president accused critics of undermining national unity..

UN Deputy Secretary General Martin Griffiths predicts earthquake death tolls in Turkey and Syria will at least double.

Read about the possible consequences of a natural disaster for the country, the ruling party and the president in the article by Vladimir Kravchenko “Earthquake in Turkey: a “black swan” flew to Erdogan”.