The truth behind the 'cancelled petition' from the Grand Kartal Hotel accountant

Documents and information included in the judicial investigation into the Grand Kartal Hotel fire have revealed that the massacre-like fire, which claimed the lives of 78 citizens, was essentially a disaster waiting to happen. Journalist Tolga Şardan shared striking testimonies from the investigation file in his column on T24.

Despite the significant amount of time that has passed, those responsible for the Grand Kartal Hotel fire, in which 78 citizens lost their lives, have not been brought to light. While the investigation into the fire continues, the statements of the individuals under investigation show that the fire occurred as a result of a chain of negligence.

Here are the highlights from the writings of Tolga Şardan, who included the testimonies from the investigation in his column:

"As we examine the documents and information included in the judicial investigation into the Grand Kartal Hotel fire, it is impossible not to see that the massacre in which we lost 78 lives was saying, 'I am coming, be aware.'

I have been reporting on the findings that have entered the state's official reports on this matter for some time.

Especially when looking at the audit reports, the reality of what happened behind the scenes is clear for all to see.

Therefore, it is unfortunately quite meaningless to define this picture with words like 'an act of God,' 'destiny,' or 'fate.'

When reading the details hidden between the lines of the information provided by some of the individuals involved in the fire massacre during judicial and administrative investigations, a clearer picture will be etched into our memories.

First, let's look at what İrfan Acar, an officer at the Bolu Municipality Fire Department who was arrested, had to say. Acar is the firefighter who conducted the inspection at the Grand Kartal Hotel, which was carried out by the Bolu Municipality and caused great controversy in the public eye during the massacre process, and who prepared the report.

Acar explains the following in his testimony:

'(…) I went to the Bolu Grand Kartal Hotel for inspection purposes. When I arrived, I was met by Cemal Özer, whose name appeared on the fire control form and who introduced himself as the company's accounting official. I began the inspection under his escort.

During the inspection, I measured the distances of two emergency exits with a tape measure. I counted the emergency exit doors floor by floor. I measured their dimensions. I saw a total of three emergency exit staircases, one main one and one each on the right and left of the building, and I stated in the inspection and audit form that they were not suitable. (...)'

It is understood from the testimony of the arrested firefighter Acar that there were problems at the hotel, especially regarding the measures taken against fire.

We learn what happened at the hotel after Acar submitted his report, in which he stated that there were deficiencies, to both the hotel management and the municipality, from the information provided by Kadir Özdemir.

Özdemir is the hotel's accountant. However, as a 'knowledgeable staff member,' he is involved in almost every task.

Let's read what he had to say:

'(…) After the result of the fire inspection report issued for Grand Kartal was notified to me, I learned that an inspection had been carried out throughout the entire hotel. I shared this issue with Ahmet Demir. Ahmet Demir works as the general manager at the Gazelle Hotel. However, he does not have an official title for the document. But he works as the general manager in practice.

Upon sharing the issue with him, Ahmet Demir also spoke with Deputy Mayor Sedat Gülener. Sedat Gülener told Ahmet Demir that we should submit a cancellation petition. Later, I shared this issue with Mr. Emir. Mr. Emir also said, 'If that's how it works, let's write a cancellation petition.'

'Time ran out, the fire drill was not conducted'

We had conducted a fire drill at this hotel in December 2023 or early January 2024 with the participation of our staff. In this drill, it was determined who would take which role. We wanted to conduct this drill in 2024, but we hadn't been able to do it yet because we ran out of time. We were planning to do it in the near future.

There is no separate security unit in our hotel. We get help from the staff on duty at our hotel for this matter. However, as I mentioned, we do not have a security guard.

Inspections without fire safety checks

As for inspections, we have two types of inspections; the first is the inspection conducted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. They came here, presumably on December 10, 2024, and checked the hotel from top to bottom. My colleagues informed me that some inspections were carried out regarding personnel audits, department and kitchen audits, warehouse audits, and disaster situations related to security. I was not there during the inspection. I do not know exactly what was looked at in detail because the official letter has not reached us yet. They had said that the official letters regarding the inspection would be sent later.

The other inspection is the document audit regarding sustainable tourism. Here, unlike the ministry inspection, audits are conducted on issues such as the hotel's recycling, sustainable energy, hygiene, and personnel.'

Instruction from the boss: 'The season is starting, the deficiencies won't be finished in time, withdraw the petition'

Actually, our goal was to submit a petition to open a cafe. However, we realized that an erroneous petition had been submitted to the municipality in the form of 'an inspection of the entire hotel.' Afterwards, the municipality identified a number of deficiencies in the hotel and conveyed this to us. I explained the situation to Mr. Emir. He asked me to cancel the petition because 'the season is about to start and we won't be able to complete the deficiencies.' Upon this, I submitted a petition to the municipality requesting that the previous petition not be processed.'

Fixing the deficiencies was very expensive!

I went to the Bolu Municipality Public Relations Directorate to get a fire report. When I went there, I explained the situation and gave them the forms available there, and while filling out that form, I wrote the name of the hotel because they wouldn't know the restaurant. Upon this application, someone from the fire department came and inspected the entire hotel. While inspecting, he was escorted by accounting staff member Mr. Cemal. I learned that the entire hotel had been inspected after the fire report was issued.

After the inspection report was issued, Cemal called me and said that he had spoken with Mr. Emir, that the deficiencies were very expensive, that they could not do them, and that we needed to cancel the application. I then spoke with Mr. Emir and asked, 'Shall we cancel the application?' He said, 'Okay, let's do it.' Upon this, I went to the Bolu Municipality and went to the public relations department and said, 'I want the previous application to be cancelled.' They said, 'Submit a petition,' and I submitted a written petition.'

No OHS specialist

Approximately 85-90 people work at the Grand Hotel during the season. However, the number of employees may increase depending on the season. When the snow is heavy, this number can go up to 100-110. We do not have an occupational health and safety specialist employed on a contract basis.

About ten years ago, there was such an employee. Ms. Ece, whom you asked me about, is an employee of the Gazella Hotel, but her insurance is with Grand Kartal Turizm A.Ş., which is the same for both hotels. Since there is a doctor and a nurse at Grand Kartal and the season is short, an occupational safety specialist was not deemed necessary. A fire drill is normally conducted at the hotel. It was done last year, but no fire drill or training was provided this season. (...)'

The owner of the cafe: I asked for a fire report, they couldn't find it

One of the testimonies included in the judicial and administrative investigation was the information provided by İsmail Karagöz, who wanted to open a cafe inside the hotel.

Here is what Karagöz, who reached an agreement with Emir Aras, the son-in-law of the hotel owner who also acts as the boss, to rent the cafe inside the hotel, had to say:

'(…) I submitted the official documents for the application for a workplace opening and operating license, tax plate, tax opening, SGK documents, employee list, professional qualification certificates, and chamber of commerce certificate to the special provincial administration licensing department.

There was no document related to fire among the documents I submitted. The reason was that this place had been open for ten years. Although we thought that the place in question had a fire safety certificate despite being used for ten years, we later learned that this document did not exist.

When I went to the special administration to follow up on the process, I asked if there was a fire safety certificate used before me. They said there wasn't. I asked Kadir Özdemir for the fire safety certificate and old licenses of the place we would use as a cafe. After looking for 2-3 days, he said he couldn't find them. Upon this, I told Kadir to solve this problem. (...)'

Fire drill: Intervening in a fire lit in a bucket with a fire extinguisher!

This is what happened regarding the provision of fire safety at the Grand Kartal Hotel and the ways to avoid inspections.

Another interesting testimony entered the file. Adem Güven, an employee of the hotel, described the method that would boggle the mind while explaining the fire drills conducted in previous years at the facility where he had worked for many years:

'(…) I know everything about the Grand Kartal Hotel from the day it started operating until today. During the period I worked, necessary fire training was given to the staff upon the instruction of the management until 2022 when the season opened. In this training, a fire was lit in a bucket outside, and it was explained how to use a fire extinguisher, where the fire escapes lead, where they come out, and how to press the buttons in case of a fire. These trainings were given by the hotel's staff who knew these jobs.

There were three staircases in the hotel, one customer staircase from the bottom to the 12th floor, and two staircases on the right and left of the hotel. One of the staircases on the right side of the elevators was considered a fire escape. The other one, that is, the one on the left side of the elevator, was the staircase used by the staff. Although there was necessary lighting in the fire escape, there was no lighting or directional signs on the staircase used by the staff. There was even an alarm button in the middle of the corridor. There were also smoke sensors in the rooms. I went up to the sixth and seventh floors after the fire. I saw that the glass of the fire alarm buttons was intact, meaning the glass had not been broken and they had not been pressed. (...)'

News Source: 12punto