The owner of the hotel with 78 rooms was brought to court like this! The first photo from Halit Ergül.

08.07.2025 17:11

The second day of the trial concerning the fire disaster in Bolu Kartalkaya, which resulted in the deaths of 78 people and injuries to 133 others, continues with the defendants' statements being taken. Halit Ergül, the owner of the Grand Kartal Hotel where the disaster occurred, was also brought into the courtroom under extensive security measures. There are 32 defendants in total, 19 of whom are in custody.

In the Grand Kartal Hotel fire disaster in Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Resort, where 78 people lost their lives and 133 were injured, the second day of the trial of 32 defendants, 19 of whom are in custody, is taking place, and the defendants' statements are being taken.

THE OWNER OF THE HOTEL THAT CLAIMED 78 LIVES WAS BROUGHT TO COURT LIKE THIS

The hearing, held in a specially created hall 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, relatives of the deceased, and attorneys for the parties. The owner of the Grand Kartal Hotel, Halit Ergül, was also brought to the courtroom under extensive security measures.

THE DETAINED DIRECTOR OF THE PROVINCIAL SPECIAL ADMINISTRATION BLAMED THE MINISTRY: THIS PLACE IS MONITORED BY THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND TOURISM

The second day of the hearing, recorded by the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS), began with the defense of the detained defendant Mehmet Özel, the former Director of Licensing and Inspection of the Provincial Special Administration.

Özel, who started his defense by wishing mercy from God for the deceased and stated that he served between 2010-2016, said, "I was not in office when the license was granted in 2007. I have no responsibility for licensing and inspection after 2016. The area where the hotel is located is a tourism area. The hotel started operating by obtaining its operating certificate in 2002. A business opening and working license was granted in 2007. The Provincial Special Administration does not have inspection authority; there is no provision in the regulation stating that inspections related to fire will be conducted. If a suitable Fire Department report is obtained, a business opening and working license is granted. Facilities with tourism operation certificates are only inspected by the ministry."

Özel, who requested his release and acquittal, responded to the complainant's attorney's question about whether an inspection was conducted at the hotel, saying, "This place is monitored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. While inspections are conducted on facilities outside the tourism area, this place has been viewed as an authority overreach. There are tenants in the hotel, and inspections have been conducted to monitor them. These are inspections based on their competencies."

"THE FIREFIGHTER IDENTIFIED DEFICIENCIES"

Cemal Özer, the accounting staff of the hotel and a detained defendant, stated that he was responsible for the supply of the food and beverage department and processed the incoming invoices. He explained that when the fire department came for inspection, he accompanied the firefighter, non-detained defendant İrfan Acar, under the instruction of the detained accounting manager Kadir Özdemir, saying, "Acar said that the corridors were not compliant with the regulations, that there were no sensors and emergency exit doors in the hood, and that the lights for emergency exit directions were not working."

"THE GENERAL MANAGER GOT ANGRY, SAYING 'YOU HAVE CAUSED US TROUBLE'"

Özer conveyed that Acar's prepared form would become a report and that he said, "Our managers will talk to your managers," and added, "We took the notes to the company's general manager, detained defendant Emir Aras, and explained the deficiencies. Mr. Emir looked, examined, and said, 'Okay, I will talk to Kadir Özdemir.' In fact, as we were leaving the room, he got angry and said, 'You have caused us trouble.' That day, since the ministry's inspectors were also conducting an inspection, I accompanied the fire inspection. After that, I continued with my accounting work; I have no knowledge of the subsequent process."

"I WOKE UP TO SMELLS AND SOUNDS"

Özer, who stated that he was on the 10th floor during the fire, said, "I woke up to smells and sounds; there was the assistant accounting manager, non-detained defendant Mehmet Salun, next to me, and I woke him up. We opened the door, but we couldn't get out due to the smoke. I was rescued by the fire department through the window. No alarm was heard during the fire. Fire training was not provided, and drills were not conducted."

Meanwhile, the presiding judge granted additional defense rights to defendant Özer, who is being tried for "intentional killing with probable intent" and "intentional injury with probable intent," for the charge of "causing the death and injury of multiple persons with conscious negligence."

ACCOUNTING MANAGER'S DEFENSE TO THE QUESTION "WERE THE ACCOUNTS EMPTIED?" WAS "I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE"

Kadir Özdemir, the company's accounting manager and a detained defendant, also expressed his condolences to the relatives of the deceased in his defense, stating that he was saddened by the incident. Özdemir claimed that he was the accounting manager of Gazelle Hotel, and that he went to Grand Kartal Hotel for 2-3 days during the season, asserting that the operations there were managed by the detained hotel owner Halit Ergül and the detained general manager of the company Emir Aras.

Özdemir stated that he heard that the café below the hotel was rented out at the beginning of the season and that İsmail Karagöz, a non-detained official of Mudurnu Energy Industry and Trade Inc., called him and said that a fire department report needed to be obtained, and continued:

"I went to Bolu Municipality and applied. Since the café's name was foreign, I gave the hotel's name. After the inspection, Mr. Emir called me and said, 'We cannot make these deficiencies; we already have a business opening and working license. The document is not related to the hotel but to the café.' I submitted a cancellation petition to the municipality. Mr. Emir told us to submit the petition. I called detained defendant Ahmet Demir, the General Manager of Gazelle Hotel, and told him that Mr. Emir wanted the document to be canceled. Then Mr. Ahmet called me and said that the document would be canceled and that it would be checked again. Later, I went to Bolu Municipality again and applied; they checked the café."

In response to the complainant's attorney's question, "After the fire, money was sent from the company account, the accounts were emptied, and vehicle sales were made; do you have any knowledge of this?" Özdemir claimed that he had no knowledge of it.

"FIRE TRAINING WAS NOT PROVIDED"

Özdemir responded to the court president's question about fire training and drills, saying, "Fire training was not provided, I do not know if a drill was conducted, it probably was not."

Özdemir answered a question from a complainant's lawyer, "In your statement at the prosecutor's office, you mentioned that Cemal Özer called you and said that Emir Aras could not have the identified deficiencies fixed and wanted the document to be canceled. Did Cemal Özer call you?" by saying, "There may be a typo or error in the prosecutor's office. I did not meet with Cemal Özer. My current statements are valid."

The defendant's cross-examination will continue after the break given in the hearing. Meanwhile, during the break in the hearing, some complainants reacted to the defendants.

REQUEST FOR UP TO 1998 YEARS IN PRISON

In the fire that broke out at the Grand Kartal Hotel located in Kartalkaya Ski Center on January 21, 78 people lost their lives, and 133 people were injured. In the indictment prepared by the Bolu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office as part of the investigation initiated after the incident, hotel owners, board members, 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 requested to be sentenced to a total of up to 1998 years in prison for the crimes of 'manslaughter with probable intent' and 'intentional injury with probable intent' 78 times each.

The indictment also requests that 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 Joint Stock Company İbrahim Polat and İsmail Karagöz, FQC Global Certification Joint Stock Company official Ali Ağaoğlu and employee Aleyna Beşinci, LPG installation maintenance staff Doğan Aydın and Muharrem Şen, Bolu Provincial Special Administration Secretary Sırrı Köstereli, Bolu Provincial Special Administration Deputy Secretary Bünyamin Bal, Bolu Provincial Special Administration License and Inspection Director Yeliz Erdoğan, and former Bolu Provincial Special Administration License and Inspection Director Mehmet Özel be sentenced to up to 22 years and 6 months in prison for 'causing the death and injury of multiple people through conscious negligence.'

NINE DEFENDANTS MADE THEIR DEFENSE ON THE FIRST DAY

The sports hall located within Bolu Social Sciences High School was converted into a courtroom for the trial. The courtroom was equipped with state-of-the-art technology, from camera systems to infrastructure. While intense security measures were taken before the hearing, the first hearing of the trial, which Turkey has been eagerly awaiting, began yesterday. On the first day of the hearing; Gazelle Hotel Resort Manager detained defendant Ahmet Demir, employee of the conformity assessment company FQC Global Certification Joint Stock Company, non-detained defendant Aleyna B., non-detained defendant Ali A., technical staff non-detained defendant Bayram Ü., detained Tahsin Pekcan, detained Hüseyin Özer, and Bolu Provincial Special Administration Secretary detained Sırrı Köstereli, Deputy Secretary detained Bünyamin Bal, and Provincial Special Administration License Director detained Yeliz Erdoğan made their defenses.

INTENSE INTEREST ON THE SECOND DAY AS WELL

The hearing, which ended on the first day at 00:08, resumed this morning at 09:15. Families of the 78 deceased and survivors of the fire in the hotel, along with many citizens, flocked to the courtroom on the second day of the hearing. Those who would attend the trial were allowed into the area after passing through the police checkpoint.