Court enables 6 officials to be investigated via fatal hotel fire in northern Türkiye

A court in Ankara approved an investigation of six officials in connection with a fatal fire in a hotel in northwestern Türkiye at the beginning of this year, reported German Welle Turkish Edition.

The regional administrative court of Ankara decided that an investigation could carry out six employees of the special administration of the province of Bolu, whose alleged negligence in the inspection of fire protection measures in the hotel could possibly have contributed to the tragedy.

The fire that broke out in the early morning of January 21 at the Grand Kartal Hotel, a 12-story ski area in Kartelkaya, which was popular with vacationers during the half-time holiday of Turkey, demanded the lives of 78 people and injured 51. There were 36 minors among the victims.

The tragedy sent shock waves across the country, whereby videos circulating from people on social media who desperately screamed for help or jumping from windows.

The court's decision came after the families of the victims and the public prosecutor's office of the Bolu public prosecutor's office questioned a decision by the Bolu governor's office, which blocked an examination of the six civil servants last month. Two of the officials are currently in prison. The governor's office had argued that the officials had not taken on legal responsibility for the inspection of the hotel.

When the court overturned this decision, he said in a unanimous decision: “The problem [of whether the public servants have any responsibility] can only be clarified with an investigation by the public prosecutor. “

The Grand Kartal Hotel is located outside the municipal borders and falls under the responsibility of the provincial special administration. In a report by the Ministry of the Interior, it was found that the authority rested to inspect the hotel with the special administration of the province of Bolu. The ministry's inspectors found that administration employees had carried out five inspections in the hotel, but that fire protection was not one of the problems examined.

Two employees who were identified as Sırrı K. and Büyamin B. were arrested on February 5 and remain in custody. To defend them in court, the men argued that the authority to inspect the hotel with the Ministry of Tourism. Sırrı K. Said, inspections of institutions with tourism operating certificates are prescribed by the tourist ministry as legally.

Special provincial administrations in Turkey function as part of local governance in all 81 provinces. The government is more likely to be chosen by the government. These administrations serve as a local government unit with a medium level at the provincial level.

According to Turkish law, the investigation and persecution of civil servants require crimes that were committed as part of their duties, the permission of the state government's authorities. Regardless of the strength of the evidence, the public prosecutor cannot continue with an examination without such an approval. You must first submit evidence that recommend a criminal investigation by the responsible administrative authority, which then carries out preliminary determination in order to determine whether permission is granted for law enforcement.

The number of high fatalities in the hotel was attributed to the lack of fire warning systems and triggered a guilt between the Ministry of Tourism and the municipality of Bolu, which was led by the main administrator of the Republican People's Party (CHP), since Kartalkaya is located in the province of Bolu.

The tourist minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has his request to resign from opposition politicians and others who accuse him of not ensuring that the hotel meets the safety regulations of the fire. Ersoy has so far ignored these requirements.