CHP reacts to Culture and Tourism Minister Ersoy as 'all-inclusive minister': 'It is impossible for us to accept'

Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, in his statement regarding the fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu Kartalkaya, which resulted in the loss of 66 lives, stated that the hotel's inspections were conducted in 2021 and 2024, saying, "The hotel has a fire safety certificate issued by the fire department. This authority and competence already lie with the fire department. Regular checks and certifications must also be carried out by the fire department.

To date, no negative situation regarding fire safety has been reported to us by the fire department," he stated.

However, Bolu Mayor Özcan claimed that this statement made by the Minister was a 'lie', saying, "The Minister of Culture and Tourism had the audacity to blame our fire department by telling an open and clear lie in front of the cameras."

REACTION FROM CHP TO MINISTER ERSOY

Gülşah Deniz Atalar, CHP Deputy Chair responsible for the Ministry of Tourism, who reacted to Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy's statements blaming local government, made the following statement to Halktv:

They are unaware of how this place is evaluated in terms of administrative law; this is not a metropolitan municipality but a provincial municipality, and the provincial municipality is responsible for the adjacent area, and this place has been declared a tourism zone. It is very clear that the inspection is under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism; the minister himself already said that an inspection was carried out in 2021 and 2024 and that the hotels passed. There is a problem either in the documents or in the inspections.

We do not accept the accusations directed at our municipality; we believe he is making these accusations to cover up his own lack of oversight and to ensure no blame comes to his ministry.

The result is that inspections were not carried out properly. We stated that the inspections conducted were incomplete or flawed and directed questions regarding this, but we only received a response stating that the inspections were carried out. This is the Grand Kartal Hotel, a four-star hotel... The Minister of Culture and Tourism himself already said that the ministry conducts these inspections!

Look, this must be said: an earthquake happens, a hotel collapses, athlete children pass away; a holiday happens here, a hotel burns down, children lose their lives. I think the Minister needs to stop blaming others as soon as possible and fix the things that are lacking within his own ministry.

My advice to him is not to be the 'all-inclusive' minister of Antalya, but to be the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey... That is the advice I can give him.

Because it is impossible for us to accept the statement he made today; it is definitely impossible for us to accept a statement that ignores his own responsibility and tries to shift responsibilities onto others who have no responsibility.

News Source : 12punto