HABAŞ chairman among 11 held over Aliağa steel blast as AKP and MHP vote down an inquiry

Police detained the chairman of HABAŞ, the company that owns the Aliağa steel plant where an explosion killed at least 17 workers, prosecutors said on Tuesday. Mehmet Rüştü Başaran was one of 11 suspects held a day after the blast. That evening in Ankara, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) voted down an opposition motion for a parliamentary inquiry into the disaster.

The two moves capture how Turkey is now handling the deadliest industrial accident of the year. The government says the courts and its labor inspectors will establish who was at fault. The opposition and the unions say inspection failed long before Monday. They point to two earlier deaths at the same plant in the past three weeks and to the company's own safety figures. A court has also banned news coverage of the case until the investigation ends.

567politics first reported on the explosion in our story on Monday's blast and the early reactions. This article covers Tuesday's developments. Quotations from Turkish-language sources are 567politics translations.

Eleven suspects held, from the chairman to a crane engineer#

The Menemen Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said 11 suspects "judged to be at fault in the incident" had been detained after experts examined the site under a prosecutor's supervision, according to its statement as carried by the İhlas News Agency (İHA).

The statement listed the suspects by job, not by name. They are the company's board chairman, the plant manager, the quality and planning manager, the administrative manager, the company's Aliağa branch manager, the steel shop manager, the mechanical maintenance chief, the steel shop chief, a periodic-inspection engineer, a section engineer and a crane maintenance engineer. Two were also listed as acting for the employer under Turkish labor law.

Başaran was detained at an address in Kartal, on the Asian side of Istanbul, where a warrant had been issued for him, the Demirören News Agency reported. He was to be handed over to the İzmir police, who are running the investigation. Deputy Justice Minister Can Tuncay said detention orders had been issued for Başaran and 10 others, BBC News Türkçe reported. Tuncay also said prosecutors were examining reports and complaints about earlier worker deaths at the plant.

The number of suspects rose during the day. At midday, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said at the plant that prosecutors had issued detention orders for six people. "This number may rise," he said, according to Anadolu Agency, as published by Karar.

The prosecutors also said production at the plant had been halted. Unions had demanded that step on Monday.

How many died#

Official figures have varied slightly. In Tuesday evening's statement, prosecutors said 17 workers had died, 15 were injured and a search was still under way for one missing worker. Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu also gave 17 dead at midday, with 13 people still in hospital, two of them seriously injured, Gazetem İzmir reported. Some outlets, including BBC News Türkçe and the Demirören News Agency, have put the toll at 18. On Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had given a figure of 16.

What officials say caused the blast#

Accounts of the cause have shifted since Monday. Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Işıkhan gave the latest official version after visiting the site with Bayraktar and Memişoğlu. "According to the first examinations, during ongoing maintenance work, an explosion occurred caused by the rupture of natural gas and oxygen pipes as a result of falling material," he said, according to Anadolu.

Bayraktar said the accident happened during routine maintenance of an electric arc furnace, which is carried out every two weeks, when a crane collapsed. He described the site as "a very large industrial facility" where about 1,800 people work at the same time. "Whoever is negligent in this incident, it will be pursued with determination. No one should have any worries about this," he said.

The company has described the explosion as an accident. In a statement on Monday, carried by İHA, it said "a sad accident" had happened "during planned maintenance work" on one of its electric arc furnaces. Its emergency teams treated the injured and sent them to hospital, it said, and inquiries into the cause were under way in coordination with official agencies. A condolence notice on the company's website said, "Our pain is indescribable," according to BBC News Türkçe. The company said it would keep supporting the families of the dead and the injured.

The inspection question#

The political argument centers on inspection. Işıkhan said the plant employed 37 occupational health and safety specialists, two workplace doctors and one other health worker. He said his ministry's Guidance and Inspection Board had inspected it at different times. "We reviewed the operation, and our inspectors determined that there were no very serious problems," he said. "However, this work accident has caused a serious problem." He said he had assigned a chief inspector and that it was too early to say who was at fault. "I will share the necessary statements after the inspections are finished," he said.

Critics point to the company's own figures. HABAŞ's 2025 sustainability report shows a sharp rise in lost-time accidents at its Aliağa operations, DW Türkçe reported after reviewing the report. These are accidents after which an injured worker cannot return on the next working day.

• 2024
• 2025

0

50

100

150

Company employees2024: 1092025: 146

Subcontractor workers2024: 382025: 83

Company employeesSubcontractor workers

Source: HABAŞ 2025 sustainability report, as reported by DW Türkçe

Show the numbers

Group	2024	2025
Company employees	109	146
Subcontractor workers	38	83

The report shows the total rising from 147 to 229. For subcontractor workers, the number more than doubled. Safety training hours fell from 65,700 in 2024 to 8,697 in 2025, a drop of about 87%, DW reported. The report does not explain the fall. It says the company held 4,363 person-trainings that year and that the number of subcontractor workers given basic safety training rose from 269 to 615.

The company says in the report that it made the rise in accidents a priority. It says it strengthened protective equipment, sped up engineering measures and monitored subcontractor safety more closely. It also says its ISO 45001 safety system is checked by annual internal and external audits and by public inspections, DW reported. The report does not list inspection dates or the problems found.

The plant has a history of deaths. Hakan Doğan, a subcontractor worker, died after a fall on October 21. Eyüp Eğinli, 20, died on November 5 when a tire on a work machine exploded as it was being inflated, according to BBC News Türkçe. The BBC said that, by its count from open sources, at least 28 workers have died at HABAŞ's steel plant and port since 2018. In one earlier case, a court found HABAŞ 70% at fault for a 2020 death and ordered compensation for the family. In another, Turkey's Court of Cassation overturned the acquittal of five defendants in 2021. It said the file lacked documents showing who was responsible for what in a plant of more than 2,000 workers, DW reported.

Parliament rejects an inquiry#

In the General Assembly on Tuesday, the Republican People's Party (CHP) asked for a parliamentary inquiry. It would have examined the causes of the explosion and fire, safety measures, whether public inspection was adequate, and the rights of workers and their families. The motion was rejected with the votes of the AKP and the MHP, Cumhuriyet reported, citing the ANKA news agency. The reports did not say whether AKP or MHP speakers explained their votes. Group proposals like this one are routinely voted on before the assembly's main business, and the governing alliance holds a majority.

Rıfat Nalbantoğlu, the CHP's secretary general and an İzmir lawmaker, spoke for the motion. "In less than three weeks, we lost 20 workers at the same facilities," he said, counting the two earlier deaths and a toll of 18 on Monday. He addressed the government directly. "How many times was this facility inspected in the last 10 years? What findings were made? What sanctions were applied? How many more workers have to die for measures to be taken?"

Nalbantoğlu cited the company's accident figures against Işıkhan's statement. "Faced with this picture, how can no serious problem be found?" he asked. He called for all inspection records to be published and for an independent, transparent investigation. He said that investigation should cover the possible responsibility of public officials as well as the employer.

The Yeni Parti, formed by lawmakers who left the CHP, has also called for an inquiry. Its Bursa lawmaker Kayıhan Pala told a news conference in parliament on Tuesday that the party had filed a motion before and would file another, according to Gazete Yenigün, as summarized by Habermetrik. Turkey's split opposition is covered in our report on the immunity files against Kılıçdaroğlu and Özel.

The broadcast ban#

On Monday night, the broadcasting regulator RTÜK announced that a criminal judgeship of peace in Aliağa had banned coverage of the case. "Until the investigation is completed, a broadcast ban has been imposed on all kinds of news, interviews and comments about the incident in written, visual, social media and internet outlets," RTÜK said, according to İHA. It said the order was meant to prevent disinformation and "public outrage," to protect public order and to allow a sound investigation.

The prosecutors' statement on Tuesday also asked the public to rely on official statements. It said they would open cases on their own against anyone who spreads false information "in a way suited to disturb public peace."

Both opposition parties criticized the ban. "Imposing a broadcast ban after yesterday's disaster is a separate disaster," Nalbantoğlu said. "What are you trying to hide?" Pala said neither the ban nor the detention of people who protested after the blast would cover up what happened.

The unions: "not an accident, murder"#

Unions and occupational safety groups called protests in Aliağa and Istanbul for Tuesday evening. The metalworkers' union Birleşik Metal-İş, part of the DİSK confederation, called the explosion "the third work murder at HABAŞ in the last three weeks," in a statement collected by Sendika.Org. "The profit greed of capital that sees worker health and safety as a cost item, the subcontracting system and the lack of public inspection are costing workers their lives," it said. It demanded that "all those responsible, including the factory management and the public officials charged with inspection, must answer before the courts."

The Health and Safety Labour Watch (İSİG), a group that counts workplace deaths from press and family reports, called for the employer to be prosecuted and for the ministers responsible, starting with the labor minister, to resign, DW reported. By its count, at least 1,930 workers died in workplace accidents in Turkey in the first ten months of 2026. The HABAŞ deaths are not included in that figure. Our earlier report on the labor ministry's budget and pension plans covers Işıkhan's ministry and its spending.

Timeline#

1. Oct. 21Subcontractor worker Hakan Doğan dies in a fall
2. Nov. 5Eyüp Eğinli, 20, dies when a work-machine tire explodes
3. Nov. 9Explosion in the steel shop; court bans coverage that night
4. Nov. 10, middayMinisters visit; six detention orders announced
5. Nov. 10, evening11 suspects held, including the chairman; production halted
6. Nov. 10, eveningAKP and MHP reject the CHP's inquiry motion

Source: BBC News Türkçe, prosecutors via İHA, Cumhuriyet

Court decisions still to come#

Prosecutors have not yet said whether they will ask a court to jail the suspects pending trial or release them under judicial control. The chief inspector's report for the labor ministry has no announced deadline. The court's broadcast ban stays in force until the investigation is complete. More coverage is on our Turkey news page. Our methodology explains how we source stories.

How we reported this#

567politics read the prosecutors' statement, the RTÜK announcement and the company's statement as carried by İHA. Ministers' remarks come from Anadolu Agency as published by Karar and from Gazetem İzmir. The parliamentary debate is from ANKA via Cumhuriyet. We also read reporting by BBC News Türkçe and DW Türkçe, and the union statements collected by Sendika.Org. We could not reach HABAŞ's website. We did not see a statement from Başaran or his lawyers. Casualty figures are given as stated by each source because they differ.

Differing perspectives

Who should answer for the Aliağa steel plant explosion, and how?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• An accident under investigation

  Who holds it: HABAŞ (Habaş Sınai ve Tıbbi Gazlar İstihsal Endüstrisi AŞ)

  The company says a sad accident happened during planned maintenance on one of its electric arc furnaces. It says its emergency teams treated the injured and sent them to hospital, and that inquiries into the cause are under way in coordination with the official agencies.

  In their words: İhlas News Agency (company statement) ↗

• Call it a work murder

  Who holds it: Birleşik Metal-İş and other DİSK unions

  The unions say this was the third work murder at HABAŞ in three weeks, caused by treating safety as a cost, subcontracting and weak public inspection. They demanded a halt to production and say factory managers and the officials charged with inspection must all answer before the courts.

  In their words: Sendika.Org (union statements) ↗

• Let the courts and inspectors decide

  Who holds it: Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Işıkhan and the government

  The minister says the plant had 37 safety specialists and was inspected at different times without very serious problems being found. He has assigned a chief inspector and says it is too early to name anyone at fault. Judicial authorities will act against whoever was negligent, and the state will support the families.

  In their words: Anadolu Agency via Karar ↗

• Open a parliamentary inquiry

  Who holds it: CHP Secretary General Rıfat Nalbantoğlu and the CHP group

  The CHP says 20 workers died at the same site in under three weeks and the company's own data show accidents rising. It asks how often the plant was inspected and what sanctions followed, wants all inspection records published, and seeks an independent inquiry covering public officials as well as the employer.

  In their words: Cumhuriyet (ANKA) ↗

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