13.07.2025 15:30
In the case of the hotel fire in Bolu, where 78 people lost their lives, the words of Mesude Turan, who lost her daughter in the tragedy, choked the audience. Turan said, "We watched the footage. The hotel officials, who said 'It was hard to get out,' put on their winter coats and left. My daughter didn't even wake up. For so many hours, I took my daughter out from the body bags in the chicken truck. Their children's psychology has been affected. I no longer have a child."
In the Grand Kartal Hotel fire in Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Resort, where 78 people lost their lives and 133 were injured, the 7th hearing of the case involving 32 defendants, including the hotel owner and municipal officials, was held, and victim statements were taken. In the first 5 days, all 32 defendants had made their defenses.
The hearing, held in a specially created area in the gymnasium of Bolu Social Sciences High School by the Bolu 1st Heavy Penal Court, was attended by detained and non-detained defendants, those injured in the fire, families of the deceased, relatives of the defendants, and attorneys for both sides.
"I WAS A PERSON WHO SLEPT WITH MY MOTHER'S SCENT"
Volkan Akişli (45), who lost his mother, brother, and nephew in the fire, reacted to hotel owner Halit Ergül and his daughter, who is a board member, saying, "I was a person who slept with my mother's scent. Are you aware of the helplessness you have thrown us into? Ceyda Hacıbekiroğlu and Elif Aras, you are mothers, at least look at us once. Halit Ergül, if only you had acted sensitively enough to buy devices instead of a 4x4 vehicle for the hotel manager," he said. Akişli turned to the defendant's lawyers and the defendants, showing them images of his mother's grave. Akişli called out to Ceyda Hacıbekiroğlu and Elif Aras, saying, "Don't close your eyes, look here." Akişli stated, "I am complaining about all the defendants. We will follow the case to the end."
"I TOOK MY DAUGHTER OUT OF A BODY BAG IN A CHICKEN TRUCK"
Mesude Turan, who lost her daughter in the fire, recalled the escape footage shown in court of Emir Aras, the son-in-law of hotel owner Halit Ergül and the General Manager of Grand Kartal Hotel, saying, "Whatever I say is in vain. We have heard so many stories. None of them are ashamed of what they said. She was staying in room 7010. They left the hotel with body bags. They say the hotel officials had a hard time getting out. We saw in the footage that they even put on their ski jackets and left. My daughter couldn't even wake up. If they had knocked on a few doors, they could have saved a few people. You pass by, knock on the door. You left without informing anyone. And now they are reciting nonsense here. That day, I had to look at dozens of photos one by one to find my child's lifeless body. For so many hours, I took her out of the body bags in a chicken truck. And they say that the psychology of their children has been disturbed; I no longer have a child," she wept.