İYİ Party's Türkoğlu to Minister Ersoy: 'Why didn't you take immediate action?'

İYİ Party Bursa Deputy Selçuk Türkoğlu made statements regarding the fire tragedy at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Center. 

According to the report by ANKA, Türkoğlu said, "While people were burning to death, why didn't that hotel have a license? This is not just the shame of the Kartal Hotel, but the shame of unlicensed businesses across the country, a mentality that disregards human life, and administrations that do not enforce the laws. Why didn't you take immediate action against facilities identified as unlicensed? Who turned a blind eye to this chain of negligence that resulted in deaths?"

İYİ Party's Türkoğlu stated the following: 

“Forget everything you know about the tragedy in Bolu. Because do you know what we learned? This hotel, the 'death hotel,' didn't even have a Tourism Operation License. Who says so? The Ministry of Culture and Tourism's General Directorate of Investments and Enterprises itself says so. Look, I have a document here signed by Neşe Çoldık on behalf of the General Manager. Attached to this document is a list of all hotels across Turkey that do not have a Tourism Operation License. Among these hotels is that very 'death hotel.' And according to this letter; in accordance with the ‘Tourism Encouragement Law No. 2634,’ it is mandatory for a business to obtain a tourism operation license to operate. Yet, unfortunately, this hotel, which became a grave for 78 souls, did not have a license. I ask here; how were people able to stay at this hotel without this license? How did this business advertise, how did it market itself, how did it remain open?

Look at what else was overlooked at the ‘Death Hotel.’ The Grand Kartal Hotel and the Kartal Hotel had been operating for years as two hotels with a ‘single license.’ Then, for some reason, they changed their names. They renewed their licenses as Grand Kartal Hotel and Kartal 1 Kartal 2 Auberge Hotel. However, they missed this point. While applying to the Ministry, they could not present the permit and renovation documents for the second hotel. This is because for two years, all applications have been made via e-Government. Because the system, which does not see such a building in that region, automatically rejects the application. Furthermore, according to the new regulation, they are required to present a ‘fire safety certificate,’ and they were granted a 6-month period for this. Since they could not complete their procedures within this period, their license and tourism operation certificate were canceled last July. As a result, things got complicated for them. There are two hotels, but they don't have a single license. In other words, they are effectively non-existent. Despite this, the ‘Death Hotel’ Grand Kartal Hotel continued to make sales with license number 1181 even though its license was canceled. The other facility, the Kartal Hotel, continued to operate using the business license number of the Kartal Hotel pension of the same name located in Antalya. The operation license of these hotels, which was canceled in July, was somehow not removed from the Ministry of Tourism's website due to good relations. However, when the Grand Kartal Hotel burned down, the ministry panicked and hastily removed the hotel from its system. You enter the site now, and you cannot see the facility there. Therefore, the other facility, the Kartal Hotel, which uses the same license, also falls into the ‘unlicensed’ status. In other words, there is currently neither the Grand Kartal Hotel nor the Kartal Hotel on the Ministry's website. So why is only the Kartal Hotel written on the list of unlicensed facilities and not the other, the Grand Kartal Hotel? Because they applied for the tourism operation license in the name of the Kartal Hotel and couldn't obtain it within the time limit, that's why.

'WHO TURNED A BLIND EYE TO THE CHAIN OF NEGLIGENCE?'

They did this with such a shell game that they confused even those who were not involved. In fact, they showed two separate hotels as a single hotel with license number 1181. That is why the Ministry hastily removed both from the system. Now I ask here, who will be held accountable for these deaths? While people were burning to death, why didn't that hotel have a license? This is not just the shame of the Kartal Hotel, but the shame of unlicensed businesses across the country, a mentality that disregards human life, and administrations that do not enforce the laws. I am calling out to the Ministry from here, why didn't you take immediate action against facilities identified as unlicensed? Who turned a blind eye to this chain of negligence that resulted in deaths?

I am making a call to our nation, whether it is a hotel or a pension, wherever you are staying, definitely inquire whether it has a Tourism Operation License. Because the place you enter as a hotel could be a grave for you. If this hotel had a license today, if the necessary inspections had been carried out, perhaps those people would not have died. But what happened now? All that remains are ashes, shame, and souls who paid the price for irresponsibility. It is our duty to hold the ‘Death Hotel’ and other unlicensed facilities accountable! The fact that the irresponsible Minister still sits in his seat without feeling any burden is a shame not only for himself but also for the government that protects and shelters him."