05.02.2025 11:51
Mehmet Güner, a former MP from the AK Party who lost 8 family members in the fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu, made striking remarks during a program he attended. Güner stated, "May God not inflict such pain on anyone," and added, "What saddens me the most, what hurts me... I buried the bodies of five of my children. But I couldn't see their faces."
The Grand Hotel fire in Kartalkaya, Bolu, claimed the lives of 78 people in a horrific incident. In this terrible event, former AK Party Bolu MP Mehmet Güner lost 8 members of his family. Mehmet Güner, who lost his daughter, son-in-law, 4 grandchildren, his daughter's brother-in-law, and his sister-in-law in the fire, was a guest on the program 'What You Don't Know' hosted by Yasemin Bozkurt and Esra Ada, aired on TGRT News.
Here are the highlights from Güler's statements during the live broadcast;
"We experienced a great pain. May God not give such a pain to anyone. It is a very difficult event to cope with. In this incident, I lost my daughter, son-in-law, my daughter's brother-in-law, and sister-in-law, and 4 of our grandchildren… Due to some negligence in such a disaster, our children lost their lives. I learned from the conversations that there were 78 people who died there. I also extend my condolences to their families. It is a difficult test for us. We are faithful people. Our faith has protected us; we did not rebel against our Lord. There are negligence, we saw it, but even if you hang or beat the guilty people in this matter, it does not bring our children back."
"MY DAUGHTER CALLED AND SAID 'FORGIVE ME'" We were in Istanbul on the day of the incident. We lived in different apartments in the same site. They went to Bolu on Saturday. Since my son-in-law's mother, father, and deceased siblings were also there in Bolu… Our children went there, and after meeting, they decided to take a 3-day vacation with my son-in-law and his siblings. They were supposed to leave the next day after the fire; it was their last night. That night, my wife's phone rang, waking me up. My daughter said on the phone, 'There is a fire.' She said, 'The rooms are filled with smoke, the situation is bad, forgive me.'
"THEY WERE THE ONES WHO NEEDED TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS" I immediately jumped up and set out; our nephews went. I arrived there after 2.5 hours. When I saw the fire, we realized that it was impossible for them to escape. We said there were some negligence and mistakes, but at this point, there is nothing that can bring our children back. We say precautions and fate. It was not our job to take precautions. From the hotel managers to the municipality and the ministry… They were the ones who needed to take precautions. We said, 'This is how fate is,' and we endured.
President Erdoğan could not hold back his tears at the funeral "WE HAD NO CHANCE TO ESCAPE THE ROOM" It is not possible to have clear information about the events. Only my daughter and son-in-law were on the top floor, and since the grandchildren were there, they were staying in the suite room. My son-in-law's brother, may God rest his soul, Enes… They were 2 floors below. Enes was a doctor. He probably made a move towards his nephews instead of going downstairs. He was one floor above. Our children were completely in the room, on the top floor. My daughter had already said, 'We have no chance to escape the room; more smoke is coming from outside.'
"WE TRIED TO CALL BUT COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING DUE TO THE SMOKE" My daughter and my children's spiritual feelings were quite high. She tried to live in accordance with the pleasure of my Lord. I never heard her scream even once during the fire. She said, 'Mom, there is nothing we can do, forgive me.' Only my middle grandchild had slightly separated, and I heard her say, 'Selim, come here.' We first tried to call with video, but we couldn't see anything due to the smoke.
"BABACAN AND ÖZEL SHARED OUR PAIN" Although we did not follow the media, we heard some things. After the fire, we saw some disinformation. These are misunderstood. When our friend from the channel called me, I said, 'Let's meet when I come to Istanbul.' I saw that there were some news in some places as if they had come out of our mouths. I said, 'If there is a live broadcast, I will come out; our words are being distorted.' There is also a problem with making these issues political material. I thought we should live our own pain. There are certain responsible people for the negligence in this matter. They said that legal investigations are ongoing, and necessary decisions are being made. I am not concerned with them. Ultimately, what happened there does not bring my children back; hopefully, we will try to keep their memories alive by establishing a foundation that befits their names. Our President came to our funeral. Political leaders like Özgür Özel and Ali Babacan also came. They tried to share our pain.
"THE THING THAT SADDENED ME THE MOST..." (Did you identify them?) No. Our nephews who were 2 floors below are doctors. They went to the Forensic Medicine, and they were able to identify our two children, our doctor child and our pharmacist daughter. They identified them in Bolu. Unfortunately, my daughter, son-in-law, and 4 grandchildren went to Ankara for identification at the Forensic Medicine. Their identification could only be made the next day. Our Interior Minister and our President were able to follow up. To ensure they made it to the funeral, 3 of my grandchildren came by helicopter. The thing that saddened me the most, that hurt me... Many of my relatives had passed away before. At the last moment, I must have opened their shrouds, and if I had sincerity, I must have looked and kissed them. I buried the bodies of 5 of my children. But I could not see their faces. We are sad about this.