A striking detail in the Kartalkaya fire disaster investigation: 'Something smells fishy...'

Following a fire that broke out in the early hours of January 21 at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Center, 78 people lost their lives and 51 were injured.

After the disaster, a dispute over authority and responsibility began between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the CHP-run Bolu Municipality.

While 22 people have been arrested so far as part of the ongoing investigation, journalist Barış Terkoğlu has brought a striking allegation to the agenda.

In his article for Cumhuriyet titled "The smell coming from the Kartalkaya file," Terkoğlu stated, "They are in a critical position in the courthouse where they are expected to hold those responsible for the disaster in Kartalkaya to account. But they are unable to move due to FETÖ files hanging over their head like the sword of Damocles."

The relevant part of Terkoğlu's article is as follows:

"As you know, we are practicing 'journalism under Turkish conditions.' I will not write their name. However, according to what I have learned, there was a FETÖ file regarding that judicial official who is expected to be influential in the Kartalkaya disaster investigation. After July 15, this file had been forwarded by figures within the judiciary to an AKP politician who had come to the fore in the fight against FETÖ.

I called the AKP politician, who I learned had been sent that file and who is known for their fight against FETÖ. They confirmed the story I was told. Most importantly, they said, 'I recorded that file that arrived into the state's records.' According to what they conveyed, they had presented that file with all its details to the relevant state units.

So what was written in that file? I spoke with those who saw it. Let me tell you the details:

That the judicial official in question was affiliated with FETÖ before December 17, worked in an organized manner with FETÖ at the courthouse, brought important names of the organization to critical positions in the courthouse, provided references for the personnel 'big brother' and 'big sister' at the courthouse where they served at the time, that activities from the subscription of the Zaman newspaper to sohbet meetings were carried out under their protection at the courthouse, that they enabled the collection of information about judges and prosecutors at the courthouse to be presented to the organization, and that their spouse was raised in FETÖ houses and served as a 'big sister' for two years...

Very detailed information was leading to an interesting place. The judicial official in question claimed that they parted ways with FETÖ after December 17. In this way, they had escaped the purge. Both they and their spouse were now attending the meetings of another religious community and claimed to be affiliated with that community. According to the information in the file, despite saying they had parted ways with FETÖ, they were following the FETÖ investigations of the names they once worked with and were making efforts to ensure their acquittal.

The file described the events and connections, incident by incident, name by name."

Furthermore... What happened regarding the person in question was not limited to this. In the province where they were the Chief Public Prosecutor, they were involved in car buying and selling business. When these commercial rumors grew, they were moved to a 'sidelined' position in the high judiciary by the HSK (Council of Judges and Prosecutors) before their term of office expired. Later, they were reassigned to Bolu. Now, they were in a critical position in the courthouse where they were expected to hold those responsible for the disaster in Kartalkaya to account. However, they were unable to move due to the files hanging over their head. As a matter of fact, the Kartalkaya investigation is not moving toward those responsible, and something smells fishy about the file."

News Source: 12punto