The verdict was announced on Friday in the case concerning the fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in the Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Center on January 21, 2025, which resulted in 78 deaths and 137 injuries.
The Bolu 1st High Criminal Court sentenced 11 defendants to aggravated life imprisonment in the trial, which involved 32 defendants, 20 of whom were in custody, including the hotel owner, their family, and municipal officials.
CRITICISM FROM TANJU ÖZCAN
Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan criticized the court's decision on his social media account, stating the following:
"You give 78 counts of life imprisonment to the firefighting personnel who intervened in the Kartalkaya fire at the cost of their own lives, yet you do not even file a lawsuit against the Ministry of Culture officials who licensed and inspected the burning hotel.
This unjust and unlawful decision will never satisfy the grieving families of our citizens who lost their lives, nor the children of the firefighting personnel whose fathers were punished unlawfully.
Where is the justice in this decision?"
You give 78 counts of life imprisonment to the firefighting personnel who intervened in the Kartalkaya fire at the cost of their own lives, yet you do not even file a lawsuit against the Ministry of Culture officials who licensed and inspected the burning hotel??
— Tanju ÖZCAN (@tanjuozcanchp) October 31, 2025
This unjust and unlawful decision will never satisfy the grieving families of our citizens who lost their lives…
News Source: 12punto
