HABAŞ owner Başaran to serve house arrest at his Bosphorus mansion in Yeniköy

Nine of the suspects who were referred to the courthouse after processing at the gendarmerie as part of the Aliağa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office investigation were arrested by the on-duty magistrate; 3 suspects, including HABAŞ Board Chairman Mehmet Rüştü Başaran, were released after being sentenced to house arrest under judicial control conditions.

Başaran will serve his house arrest sentence at the Gazioğlu Mansion he owns in Yeniköy. The families of the 19 workers who died in the explosion at the HABAŞ Iron and Steel factory in Aliağa, Izmir, are in mourning.

The total number of worker deaths recorded at HABAŞ facilities owned by Başaran has reached 25 with the latest 19. Previously, on 29 April 2017, worker Nail Demirci lost his life in an explosion on an LPG tanker platform belonging to HABAŞ in Kocaeli's Körfez district; in that case, Başaran and 5 company executives were sentenced to 4 years and 10 months in prison and 1 year and 9 months of disqualification from their profession.

Başaran, whose wealth was declared at 950 million dollars in the latest Forbes Türkiye list, where he ranked 35th, was also noted to own HABAŞ Group and Anadolubank. The photographs that came to the agenda along with the news also revealed the contents of the breakfast provided to the workers: 1 loaf of bread, 11 olives and a piece of cheese the size of a matchbox.

Başaran's luxury car collection of 80 vehicles, with a total value exceeding 30 million euros, also entered the public agenda. The collection includes a Ferrari 288 GTO worth 10 million euros, a Ferrari FXX worth 4.5 million dollars of which only 38 units were produced worldwide, and a Ferrari LaFerrari he bought for 3.5 million euros in 2014.