Tanju Özcan slams Minister Ersoy as 'incompetent minister': 'The responsibility lies with them'

Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan made statements regarding the fire that occurred late at night. In his statement, Özcan directed harsh criticisms at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Özcan used the following expressions:

"The Minister (Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy) is responsible for this. We do not have a duty to perform routine inspections because this authority is not ours. The duty to inspect that hotel belongs to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; because it is a hotel licensed by the ministry. The Minister says, 'We inspected this hotel in 2021 and 2024.' However, if requested from our municipality, no positive document has been issued since 2020. The last approval document was issued in 2007, 12 years before I took office. I have never seen such rudeness, such slander. Let them show us, has any document been issued by the Bolu Municipality in 2023-2024?"

'THE NUMBER IS NOT CLEAR'

Stating that the ministry's explanations do not reflect the truth, Tanju Özcan claimed that they were intended to mislead the public. Furthermore, sharing information about the loss of life related to the incident, Özcan added the following:

"66 people have lost their lives, and the lifeless bodies of 3 more people have been reached. It is not yet clear exactly what the number is. Our firefighters are still working. We do not know right now how many of our children, how many women have lost their lives. Because of the semester break, there were many families with children in the region. Our search and rescue efforts for our missing citizens continue."

'THESE SLANDERS ARE UNACCEPTABLE!'

Emphasizing the importance of the tragedy, Özcan stated that the Bolu Municipality is aware of its responsibilities and continues its work. Arguing that the statements made by ministry officials are untrue, Özcan said, "These slanders are unacceptable."