31.10.2025 15:16
In the case regarding the Grand Kartal Hotel fire in Bolu Kartalkaya, which claimed the lives of 78 people, the court has announced its decisions. The court panel sentenced 11 defendants, including hotel owner Halit Ergül, to 34 aggravated life sentences for each of the 34 children who lost their lives, and to 44 life sentences for the other deceased individuals. No reductions were applied to the sentences.
In the third hearing of the case regarding the Grand Kartal Hotel fire in Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Resort, which resulted in the deaths of 78 people and injuries to 137 others, the court announced its decision concerning 32 defendants, 20 of whom are in custody, including the hotel owner and municipal officials.
HERE ARE THE SENTENCES GIVEN The court panel sentenced the detained defendants, hotel owner Halit Ergül, Grand Kartal A. Ş. board members Emir Aras, Emine Murtezaoğlu Ergül, Elif Aras, Ceyda Hacıbekiroğlu, as well as detained hotel manager Zeki Yılmaz, detained accounting manager Kadir Özdemir, detained Gazelle Hotel manager Ahmet Demir, detained Bolu Deputy Mayor Sedat Gülener, detained Fire Department Deputy Director Kenan Coşkun, and detained firefighter İrfan Acar.
The panel sentenced 11 defendants to aggravated life imprisonment 34 times for the 34 children who lost their lives, and 44 times life imprisonment for the other deceased individuals. No reductions were applied to the sentences.
WHAT HAPPENED IN TODAY'S HEARING 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, families of the deceased, relatives of the defendants, and lawyers for the parties. Extensive security measures were taken by law enforcement inside and around the hall, and the streets and avenues surrounding the campus were closed to traffic. On the fourth day of the hearing, which was recorded via the Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS), the statements of the defendants and their lawyers against the main opinion were heard. The defendants were granted additional defense rights based on the charges of "intentional killing" against a child or a person unable to defend themselves physically or mentally, and "causing aggravated injury due to negligence" and "intentional killing by omission."
HALIT ERGÜL MADE A DEFENSE Detained defendant Emine Murtezaoğlu Ergül, a member of the company's board of directors, expressed her additional defense and statements regarding the case, saying, "I am very sorry, I am repeating my previous defenses. We happened to be there that night. I have nothing else to add."
Detained hotel owner Halit Ergül also stated that he was repeating his previous defenses, claiming, "I did not make any structural changes that would increase the fire load in this hotel, which I am a tenant of. It is not possible for me to know all the employees; in fact, I recognized some employees here."
Ergül argued that the institution responsible for ensuring their safety in terms of life and property is the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, stating, "Shortcomings are not communicated to me. Many hotels were closed after the fire. It is not possible for me to see the shortcomings that they did not see in their inspection duties. I wish they had closed me too so that this incident would not have happened. I wish I could have foreseen it and closed the hotel myself."
Emine Murtezaoğlu Ergül, Halit Ergül, and the lawyers of detained Bolu Deputy Mayor Sedat Gülener stated that they do not accept the accusations and requested the release and acquittal of their clients.
CASE PROCESS AND REQUESTED SENTENCES In the fire that broke out at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Resort on January 21, 78 people lost their lives, and 137 people were injured. In the 98-page indictment prepared by the Bolu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and accepted by the 1st Heavy Penal Court, 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, Bolu Deputy Mayor Sedat Gülener, Fire Department Deputy Director Kenan Coşkun, and firefighter İrfan Acar are facing a total of 1,998 years in prison for 78 counts of "intentional killing with probable intent" and "intentional injury with probable intent."
The technical staff of the hotel, 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, General Secretary of the Provincial Special Administration Sırrı Köstereli, Deputy General Secretary of the Provincial Special Administration Bünyamin Bal, Director of Licensing and Inspection of the Provincial Special Administration Yeliz Erdoğan, and former Director of Licensing and Inspection of the Provincial Special Administration Mehmet Özel are also facing up to 22 years and 6 months in prison for "causing the death and injury of multiple persons with conscious negligence."
In the opinion sent to the court after the first session by the Bolu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was requested that hotel owner Ergül, company general manager Aras, Gazelle Hotel General Manager Ahmet Demir, and hotel accounting manager Özdemir be sentenced to 1,950 years for 78 counts of "intentional killing with probable intent," and up to 178 years and 582 months for "intentional injury with probable intent" and "intentional damage to qualified property."
For Bolu Deputy Mayor Sedat Gülener and Fire Department Deputy Director Kenan Coşkun, the same charges requested sentences of 1,950 years and up to 176 years and 570 months, while for firefighter İrfan Acar, a sentence of 1,950 years and up to 172 years and 546 months was requested. The opinion also requested up to 22 years and 6 months in prison for board members Emine Murtezaoğlu Ergül, Ceyda Hacıbekiroğlu, and Elif Aras, hotel manager Zeki Yılmaz, accounting staff Cemal Özer and Mehmet Salun, technical staff Tahsin Pekcan, Hüseyin Özer, Bayram Ütkü, kitchen staff Faysal Yaver and Reşat Bölük, 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, and LPG installation maintenance staff Doğan Aydın and Muharrem Şen for "causing the death and injury of multiple persons with conscious negligence."
```htmlThe Secretary General of the Provincial Special Administration, Sırrı Köstereli, the Deputy Secretary General of the Provincial Special Administration, Bünyamin Bal, the Director of Licensing and Inspection of the Provincial Special Administration, Yeliz Erdoğan, and the former Director of Licensing and Inspection of the Provincial Special Administration, Mehmet Özel, are requested to be sentenced to imprisonment of 2 to 15 years for the crime of "causing the death and injury of multiple people through negligence." In the indictment, the acquittal of the defendant, kitchen staff Enver Öztürk, who is not in custody, was requested.
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