A devastating fire engulfed the 12-story Grand Kartal Hotel, a timber-clad structure in Kartalkaya Skii Resort in Bolu, Türkiye, on January 21, claiming 78 lives and leaving dozens injured. The tragedy has sparked a national debate over accountability and regulatory oversight.
The Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan claimed yesterday that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, under the helm of Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, is rushing to demolish the Grand Kartal Hotel where 78 people perished in the fire. This statement deeply pained me. The first person who came to my mind was journalist Uğur Mumcu, assassinated 32 years ago today.
After Mumcu was killed by a bomb planted in his car parked in front of his home, the debris scattered about and possibly parts of his body – crucial evidence of the crime – were “cleaned up” with a street sweeper instead of being properly secured behind police tape. Today, his family and we still mourn Mumcu’s murder, continuing to seek the truth about who truly ordered and executed his killing.
According to the Mayor’s assertion, the Tourism Ministry under Ersoy wants to swiftly demolish the burned building, citing a preliminary “severe damage” report prepared by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, headed by Murat Kurum.
If this is indeed the case, it constitutes an attempt to obstruct justice by destroying evidence before investigations can be completed, preventing the real culprits from facing judicial scrutiny.
I’ll address Mayor Özcan’s shortcomings in this tragedy shortly, but let’s proceed methodically.
Tourism Minister and his company
Why does President Tayyip Erdoğan, who spoke about combating impunity while announcing the new judicial package yesterday, continue to keep Tourism Minister Ersoy in his position as he hasn’t resigned?
His company ETS continued providing customers to Halit Ergül’s Grand Kartal Hotel – who is currently in custody – which apparently hadn’t undergone fire safety inspections in recent years by his own ministry. In other words, Minister Ersoy profited directly from this arrangement. The question of how an insurance company could insure a hotel without proper fire inspections is another matter entirely. But when victims’ relatives inevitably file lawsuits asking “how could you send customers to an uninspected hotel,” won’t ETS and therefore Minister Ersoy be among the tour operators held accountable?
If Erdoğan were to remove Ersoy from office to preserve the integrity of the investigation and authorize an inquiry into his conduct, allowing the appointment of trustees to ETS, he wouldn’t diminish in public opinion – quite the contrary, he would earn widespread respect.
The Ministry of Urban Planning also bears responsibility, at least at the Provincial Directorate level, which necessitates some response from Minister Kurum.
But if the Tourism Minister emerges from this tragedy unscathed, its repercussions will inevitably reflect on the President as well.
Let’s turn to the Mayor…
Contradictory Statements from Özcan
In attempts to lay all responsibility at the feet of CHP Mayor Özcan, only Sabah and Akit remain in the pro-AKP media camp after Hürriyet, Milliyet, Yeni Şafak and Türkiye began pursuing more objective lines of inquiry.
However, while some accusations against Özcan prove baseless due to Bolu not having metropolitan city status, he appears to have clear vulnerabilities on certain points in this tragedy.
For instance, the failure to take action when Grand Kartal hotel officials initially requested a fire inspection from the Municipality and then withdrew it upon discovering violations is a serious oversight. Özcan reveals his weakness when claiming “I didn’t have the authority” on this matter. No special authority is required to notify the Ministry or file a criminal complaint – any citizen can do this.
The Bolu Tragedy Must Not Be Repeated
In this context, CHP leader Özgür Özel’s demand for a transparent investigation of all responsible parties “regardless of their party affiliation” represents the correct approach and indicates that certain doubts exist within the CHP as well.
It’s evident that the high death toll in the Bolu tragedy stems from the hotel operator’s profit-driven avoidance of even minor expenses and the concealment of these practices from proper public oversight.
It’s not solely the operator’s fault, which again directs attention to the Ministry. We only learned through this tragedy that just three of Turkey’s 16 ski centers maintain emergency fire response units: Bursa-Uludağ, Kayseri-Erciyes and Kahramanmaraş-Yedikuyular.
I presume ETS and other tourism companies continue accepting customers at the remaining locations, taking advantage of the school mid-term break.
It’s encouraging that AKP Parliamentary Group Chair Abdullah Güler submitted a research proposal before the opposition this time. However, as long as the Tourism Minister remains in his position, his shadow will continue to loom over any Parliamentary Investigation.
