29.10.2025 18:00
Uğur Aydın, the owner of the pharmacy located on the lower floor of the building that collapsed in the Gebze district of Kocaeli, responded to allegations of column cutting. Aydın stated, "A friend said something like, 'They cut the columns.' There is no column in the middle, or at least there is no column where I saw. There are columns around the building. We have no chance of cutting those columns either."
The owner of the pharmacy on the lower floor of the collapsed building in the Gebze district of Kocaeli, Uğur Aydın, stated, "A friend said something like, 'They have cut the columns.' There is no column in the middle, or at least there is no column where I saw. There are columns around the building. We have no chance of cutting those columns."
PHARMACIST IN THE COLLAPSED BUILDING: THEY DID NOT SEE ANY CRACKS IN THE COLUMNS
While search and rescue operations continue in the collapsed building located on Issıkgöl Street in the KocaMevlana neighborhood of Gebze, where there is a pharmacy underneath, two lifeless bodies have been reached. Pharmacy owner Uğur Aydın made statements to journalists for the second time. Aydın said, "If this incident had happened not at 07:00 but on October 30, we might have been trapped inside the pharmacy right now. There were small collapses in the front part of the building yesterday. My wife told this to Mr. Ergün (the contractor). Mr. Ergün came immediately. They looked and examined the columns. They checked if there were any cracks or anything like that. It was determined that there were none."
"THE CONTRACTOR SAID 'THERE IS NO PROBLEM'"
Uğur Aydın continued his remarks: "Then, I think there were devices down there due to the metro construction. There were things measuring any soil movements, etc. I don't know if they are in contact with them or what they are doing. Then Mr. Ergün said, 'There is no problem.' We woke up this morning to such a situation."
"WE HAVE NO CHANCE OF CUTTING THE COLUMNS"
Aydın, who stated that he also examined the shop and the building last night, said, "In fact, there were places where water was coming through. I applied silicone to the places where water was coming through because water was dripping under my pharmacy. I can only say something about the solidity of the building. A friend just said something like, 'They have cut the columns.' There is no column in the middle, or at least there is no column where I saw. There are columns around the building. We have no chance of cutting those columns. In fact, let me put it this way. We are registered with the Pharmacists' Chamber. There is no occupancy permit, no zoning... we also need to show the internal zoning. There is no possibility of such a situation. All of these are registered with the Kocaeli Pharmacists' Chamber and the Gebze District Health Directorate. Because we provide files for all of them," he said.
"WHEN I LOOKED INSIDE THE COLUMN WITH ALUMINUM, THERE WAS NO PROBLEM"
Aydın, who stated that they were open until 1:00 PM yesterday, said, "My wife was here because it was a half-day holiday yesterday. She had gone somewhere for a while. She went to that pharmacy, but I was out of town. I received information later. I told her to contact the contractor and our shop owner immediately. He didn't take long either. They probably came within half an hour. The image you captured does not belong to the column; it belongs to the aluminum. I mean, when I looked inside the column with aluminum, there was no problem," he stated.