17.07.2025 11:10
The trial regarding the hotel fire disaster in Bolu Kartalkaya, which claimed the lives of 78 people, is ongoing. Emir Aras, the General Manager of Grand Kartal Hotel, did not request his release and stated, "I do not want my release. I believe I have faults. I cannot find anything to defend, but I did not do these things intentionally."
The 10th hearing of the case regarding the fire disaster that occurred on January 21 at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Resort, which claimed the lives of 78 people, including 36 children, has begun. Extensive security measures were taken around the Bolu Social Sciences High School, where the hearing was held by the Bolu 1st Heavy Penal Court.
INTERIM DECISION AWAITED
In the case, 32 defendants, including hotel operators, members of the company's board of directors, technical and administrative staff, occupational safety experts, and some officials from the Bolu Special Administration, are appearing before the judge, 19 of whom are in custody. The court panel is expected to announce interim decisions after today's hearing.
THE HOTEL'S GENERAL MANAGER DID NOT REQUEST RELEASE
Emir Aras, the General Manager of the Grand Kartal Hotel and the son-in-law of the hotel's owner, did not request his release. The detained defendant Emir Aras stated:
"I am very sorry for this tragedy. I have many regrets and many things I wish I had done differently. I cannot find anything to defend myself with. I do not want my release. I believe I have faults. I cannot find a side to defend, but I did not do these things intentionally."
The hotel's owner, Halit Ergül, expressed that he was not in a position to defend himself and stated that he would make a defense later.
EMIR ARAS'S ESCAPE FROM THE FIRE WITH HIS FAMILY CAPTURED ON CAMERA
Emir Aras, the General Manager of Grand Kartal Hotel and son-in-law of Halit Ergül, the Chairman of the Board, stated in his defense during the hearing that took place a few days ago, "At 03:32, my wife said, 'I hear noises from outside.' I opened the door out of curiosity, and I saw smoke coming from the other side. Then the phone rang again. At that moment, I told my wife, 'Run and get the girl, there seems to be a fire.'" A new security camera footage of those moments has emerged.
HE DIDN'T EVEN LOOK BACK
In the footage from the security camera, Emir Aras was seen looking into the corridor outside his room in the first minutes after the fire started. After going to the end of the corridor, Aras realized that a fire had broken out and ran back to his room to inform his children and wife. The General Manager Emir Aras and Elif Aras were seen quickly leaving the room with their children, gathering their belongings in about a minute.
THE COMPLAINANT AKIŞLI REACTED
Bülent Akişli, who lost his mother, brother, and nephew in the fire and spoke as a complainant during the hearing, stated that he had watched the camera recordings and expressed his reaction with the words, "Emir Aras, can you look me in the eye? This morning, I watched the camera recordings. You said, 'I knocked on doors, I shouted.' There is no relation at all; you opened the door, went outside with your phone, came back in, took your wife and child, and left without making a sound to those innocent people. While you were sleeping on the 7th floor, my mother, brother, and nephew were sleeping in room 7010, you heartless person, you were in the same corridor."
1998 YEARS OF PRISON SENTENCES SOUGHT
In the fire that broke out at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya Ski Resort on January 21, 78 people lost their lives, and 133 were injured. In the indictment prepared by the Bolu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office as part of the investigation initiated after the incident, the hotel owners, members of the board of directors, and managers Halit Ergül, Emine Murtezaoğlu Ergül, Ceyda Hacıbekiroğlu, Elif Aras, Emir Aras, Zeki Yılmaz, Ahmet Demir, Kadir Özdemir, Cemal Özer, Mehmet Salun, as well as Bolu Deputy Mayor Sedat Gülener, Acting Fire Chief Kenan Coşkun, and Firefighter İrfan Acar are facing charges of 'manslaughter with probable intent' and 'intentional injury with probable intent,' with a total of up to 1998 years in prison sought for each.
32 DEFENDANTS ARE BEING TRIED
The indictment also includes the hotel's technical staff Tahsin Pekcan, Hüseyin Özer, and Bayram Ütkü, kitchen staff Reşat Bölük, Enver Öztürk, and Faysal Yaver, occupational safety experts Kübra Demir and Ece Kayacan, receptionist Yiğithan Burak Çetin, officials of Mudurnu Energy Industry and Trade Inc. İbrahim Polat and İsmail Karagöz, FQC Global Certification Inc. official Ali Ağaoğlu and employee Aleyna Beşinci, LPG installation maintenance staff Doğan Aydın and Muharrem Şen, Bolu Special Administration Secretary General Sırrı Köstereli, Bolu Special Administration Deputy Secretary General Bünyamin Bal, Bolu Special Administration License and Inspection Director Yeliz Erdoğan, and former Bolu Special Administration License and Inspection Director Mehmet Özel, who are all accused of 'causing the death and injury of multiple people through conscious negligence,' with a request for sentences of up to 22 years and 6 months in prison.
THE HEARING STARTED ON JULY 7
The sports hall located within Bolu Social Sciences High School was converted into a courtroom for the case, accommodating 700 people. The courtroom was equipped with state-of-the-art technology, from camera systems to infrastructure. Intense security measures were taken before the hearing, and the first hearing of the case began on July 7. In the first 5 days of the hearing, the statements of 32 defendants were completed, while relatives of those who died in the fire, victims, and witnesses also testified during the hearings that continued over the weekend.
On the 9th day of the hearing, the prosecutor presented their requests regarding the first session. The continuation of the house arrest measure for those being tried without detention, including İbrahim Polat, the Chairman of the Board of Mudurnu A. Ş. who opened a 70 square meter café in the hotel, İsmail Karagöz, receptionist Yiğithan Burak Çetin, firefighter İrfan Acar, and Ali Ağaoğlu, the owner of FQC Inspection Company, was requested. The prosecutor stated that Doğan Aydın, the LPG installation maintenance staff, knowingly continued maintenance activities without cutting off the gas flow from the Grand Kartal Hotel's internal and external LPG installations between 2018-2022, despite knowing that they were unprojected, and found Aydın to be grossly negligent. It was also included in the requests that Kübra Demir, the Occupational Health and Safety Expert, was grossly negligent for not reporting the deficiencies in the hotel to the relevant authorities during her tenure from 2014-2021. The prosecutor also requested that Doğan Aydın and Kübra Demir be tried in detention.
THE SISTER OF THE CHEF WHO DIED IN THE FIRE WAS OVERWHELMED WITH TEARS
On the 10th day of the hearing, Emel Uyanık, the sister of Eslem Uyanık, who lost her life in the fire while working as a chef in the café, stated that she was informed about the fire via phone call, saying, "The person who called said, 'If you turn on the TV, you will understand the severity of the situation.' After seeing it, I fainted. I came to Bolu and identified my brother's body. I am also an inspector at SGK. Our job is not that simple. We explain a single letter in our report. When I see these people, I understand how well we have done our job," she said. Uyanık was overwhelmed with tears during her speech.
"WE ESCAPED BY JUMPING OUT OF THE WINDOW"
Gülnihal Temizkan, who escaped from the fire by jumping out of the window with her husband and child, said: "I was staying at the hotel with my husband and son. My husband shouted, 'There is a fire.'
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At that moment, while looking out the window and wondering 'what's there to panic about', we saw the size of the fire. When we stepped into the corridor, we were engulfed in smoke. We tried to move through the smoke in a chain. My spouse and I returned to the room and said, 'there's no exit from here.' Then a door opened, and we jumped out the window with those inside, through the glass of the room we had passed. I threw my son out first, and then we jumped. My spouse threw the car keys to someone below and asked them to bring it under the window. The vehicle was right there, and we jumped onto it. There were people tying sheets from the windows to climb down. There was no alarm, and there was no sign showing the exit. We are unable to express our gratitude for being alive. We are filing complaints against everyone responsible.
"FEARLESS OF GOD, ASHAMED OF NO ONE"
Lawyer Yüksel Gültekin, who lost 8 relatives in the fire, reacted strongly to the defendants, saying, "As soon as the footage of Emir Aras escaping the hotel with his wife and child was released, Turkey stood up. He fears not God, nor is he ashamed of man. He is unashamed to lie to our faces. An organized murder network. We demand that all families involved in this incident, municipal staff, Provincial Special Administration staff, and officials from the Mudurnu energy company be prosecuted for possible intent, as it is up to the court to decide. Millions watched the escape footage of Emir Aras, a human scum. If a suspect remains outside in such a murder case, our hearts will never stop bleeding. These people should be arrested immediately; there is no other explanation for this. How can the head of the cleaning staff and the reception chief be outside?" Gültekin's words were met with applause in the hall.
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