The first day of the Kartalkaya trial has ended! The hearing has been postponed to the morning.

The first day of the Kartalkaya trial has ended! The hearing has been postponed to the morning.

08.07.2025 01:40

The first day of the trial regarding the Grand Kartal Hotel fire in Bolu, which claimed the lives of 78 people, has concluded. The last to speak in defense was Yeliz Erdoğan, the detained director of the Provincial Special Administration's Licensing Department. She stated that she and other officials are being accused, but emphasized that the responsibility for conducting inspections of the licenses lies with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The hearing will continue at 09:15 in the morning.

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The first day of the Kartalkaya trial has been completed. The hearing was adjourned until 09:15 AM after the defense of the detained defendant Yeliz Erdoğan, the Director of the Provincial Special Administration Licensing Department, was taken.



The first day of the trial regarding the Grand Kartal Hotel fire, which claimed the lives of 78 people, has ended. Among the 32 defendants, 19 of whom are detained, are the hotel owner and municipal officials.



THE LAST DEFENSE WAS MADE BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE PROVINCIAL SPECIAL ADMINISTRATION LICENSING DEPARTMENT



The last defense was made by the 9th defendant, Yeliz Erdoğan, the detained Director of the Provincial Special Administration Licensing Department, who stated, "The reason I am here is that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has targeted us. The expert report tries to accuse us by searching 'fire' in the regulations. We issue licenses according to Article 5. We do not conduct inspections of the documents. The documents are presented to me, and we issue licenses based on those documents. The issues to be checked in the final inspection are also specified in Article 14. Article 5, paragraph 2 states that these documents are checked in subsequent inspections. In publicly accessible recreation areas, these documents are checked on-site. The hotel license was corrected in 2007, and the correction license was issued in 2008," she said.



"I WAS NOT IN OFFICE AT THAT TIME"



Continuing her defense, Yeliz Erdoğan stated, "I was not in office at that time. The fire department report states that the license is compliant. If the tourism operation certificate has replaced the workplace opening license and the same document holder still exists, there is no need to obtain a workplace opening license. Because the workplace opening license is not the final document for a hotel to start operations. The tourism operation certificate is the final document. The tourism operation certificate must be obtained within 6 months after obtaining the workplace opening license; if the document cannot be obtained, accommodation activities cannot be carried out. We conduct the final inspection specified in Article 13. The inspections we conduct in our hotels are inspections for unlicensed operations. There are shops selling skiing equipment and various small shops inside. If these shops belong to the business owner, no additional license is required; if they belong to someone else, a new workplace license is required," she expressed.



"TOURISM CERTIFIED ORGANIZATIONS ARE INSPECTED BY THE MINISTRY"



Erdoğan, who stated that she was detained and arrested without being able to say goodbye to her daughter, said, "An application was made for the opening of a licensed restaurant. I requested the necessary documents. Since the restaurant is within the hotel, I requested a fire department report for the entire Grand Kartal. The report delivered to us on January 15 was only for the restaurant. Therefore, I did not approve the license.



The person granting the license is not held responsible under the law on the protection of buildings from fire. The employer, the workplace owner, the architect, the engineer, and the building inspection company are guilty in proportion to their fault. Did I have any suspicion of fleeing that I was detained and arrested without saying goodbye to my daughter? Furthermore, I have no responsibility. Only the Ministry of Culture and Tourism inspects tourism operation certificate organizations," she stated.



THE HEARING WAS ADJOURNED UNTIL 09:15 AM



The hearing was adjourned until 09:15 AM. Those attending the trial left the hall and exited the area.



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