THE devastating Mw 7.8 earthquake in Turkey which took place on 6 February 2023 and struck southern and central Turkey and northern and western Syria, has caused widespread damage and more than 51,000 deaths.

But the natural disaster has also had an effect on the construction industry there as it’s been reported more than 600 construction contractors and property owners are now under investigation in Turkey over buildings that collapsed. More than 160,00 buildings collapsed or were severely damaged in the quakes. The disaster’s impact may have been exacerbated by building of unsafe properties.

Questions have been raised about whether the natural disaster’s impact was exacerbated by the building of unsafe properties, which experts have been warning of for years. In the country construction codes are rarely enforced, meaning some buildings didn’t meet the earthquake-engineering standard and resulted in collapsing on civilians.

Meanwhile it’s been reported that DOMOTEX Turkey will come together for the carpet industry. ‘DOMOTEX Turkey, the leading carpet and floor covering exhibition of Türkiye and the Middle East, will bring together industry professionals from Türkiye and abroad at the Middle East Exhibition Centre (OFM) between 14-17 May. It’s been announced all professionals who want to visit DOMOTEX Turkey 2022 will be able to register for free only on the website of the exhibition. The stand areas were fully-booked three months before the exhibition, to be held for the seventh time after two years by Hannover Fairs Turkey Fuarcılık.

The exhibition will be held in Gaziantep, which meets 55% of Türkiye’s carpet exports with an export figure of 1.6bn dollars and is the centre of machine-made carpets in the world, with the support of Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce (GTO), Southeast Anatolia Exporters’ Associations (GAİB) and Gaziantep Chamber of Carpet Makers and Weavers.

DOMOTEX Turkey attracts great attention owing to the prominent role of the carpet product group in the country’s exports. The companies operating in machine-made carpets and rugs; handmade carpets and rugs; textile floorcoverings (wall-to-wall); resilient floorcoverings; laminate, wood and parquet; fibres, yarns and woven fabrics; laying, cleaning and application technologies; in addition to artificial grass and sports flooring, machinery and flooring applications and technologies industries will exhibit their newest products and technologies and meet with national and international buyers.

In other news, MSC, the shipping firm also known as Mediterranean Shipping Company, wrote in an email that none of its vessels were affected and that it will be diverting shipments, including all bookings meant for Iskenderun, to Tekirdag unless customers informed it differently.