Minister Ersoy made statements regarding the agenda and answered questions in the CNN Türk live broadcast. Wishing God’s mercy to those who lost their lives in the fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Resort and wishing a speedy recovery to the injured, Ersoy touched upon the authority debates.
1 ) ISTANBUL (AA) –Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, regarding the 8 deficiencies recorded in the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya, said, “Normally, after detecting these deficiencies, you need to inform the Special Provincial Administration or the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. After making this determination, Bolu Municipality had to give time to correct it. If it has not improved after that period, it must notify the Special Provincial Administration that issues the business license or the Ministry of Culture and Tourism at a higher level.” he said.
Minister Ersoy said that regions with potential for tourism were declared tourism centers by the Presidential decree, and the Ministry was given the authority to make zoning plans and the allocation of public lands for tourism purposes.
Stating that they did not receive any authority other than this, Ersoy said, “Because it is outside the adjacent area License and settlement authority belongs to the Provincial Special Administration.. “The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is never authorized unless it is defined by a special law.” he said.
Ersoy stated that before 2021, there were hotels with a municipality certificate, and then additionally obtaining a tourism business certificate from the Ministry was added.“Sometimes information pollution is created, as if the authorities of the municipalities were transferred to the Ministry, there is no such thing. Now, the municipality certificate is not enough; a Ministry certificate is also required. “The first criterion is to obtain a municipality certificate.” he said.
Ersoy pointed out that only fire departments issue the fire qualification certificate.“The Special Provincial Administration says, ‘You will take these from the authorized institutions and bring them to me.’ In Turkey, the only official authorized institution is fire brigades. Bolu Fire Department gives the authorization in Kartalkaya. You cannot get it from any other municipality other than Bolu Municipality, since you are within the borders of Bolu province. Only fire departments issue the fire qualification certificate. The municipalities you are affiliated with within the provincial borders provide it. If the district does not have the qualification, then Bolu Fire Department will provide it. The Special Provincial Administration issues the working license to open a business.He gives you the list and says, ‘Take care of these, come.’ “Here, Bolu Fire Department issues the document after making the necessary inspections.” he said.
Noting that the Special Provincial Administration issues business and work licenses if they are eligible. Ersoy said, “When this comes to us, the process begins. The Ministry sends a controller to the business. What is our controller looking at? It oversees tourism-related processes. When we see the business license, it means the transaction is complete for us. This is our main rule.Ministry controls classify the qualifications and standards of the facility. He controls his star, his quality. We check that the number of rooms is sufficient. We look at bed capacity, minimum and maximum. Of course, there are holiday villages, apartments and hostels. Not all of them are hotels. “We carry out inspections regarding its qualifications and classification and then issue the certificate.” he said.
– “It is necessary to notify the Special Provincial Administration or the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.”
Stating that as a result of the application made to Bolu Municipality and later withdrawn, 8 faulty situations emerged in the hotel, Ersoy said:
“ Bolu Municipality finds 8 main deficiencies such as evacuation exits, illuminated direction signs, building emergency lighting, electrical installation suitability, extinguishing equipment instructions, detection systems and fire alarm, lightning rod, smoke ventilation and evacuation. detectingThere is no such thing as withdrawing after making this determination. Normally this After identifying the deficiencies, you need to inform the Special Provincial Administration or the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.After making this determination, Bolu Municipality had to give time to correct it. If it has not improved after that period, it is necessary to notify the Special Provincial Administration that issues the business license or the Ministry of Culture and Tourism at a higher level. From the moment he said this, the Special Provincial Administration would immediately shut down and cancel his license without even needing to ask the Ministry. Since the Special Provincial Administration has canceled the license, it can go and close it. From that moment on, the Special Provincial Administration automatically closes the business and informs us, as the qualification for a business license has decreased. If it had been in the adjacent area, the fire brigade would have applied to the municipality. You cannot take any other action after knowing this fact. You detected it, it didn’t get in your way. You personally went upon request and made the findings. You are now aware of this. There is a serious problem in this hotel. “He counted 8 items.”
Noting that the law states that fire-related qualification certificates in Turkey are obtained from fire departments, Ersoy said, “Whether in the adjacent area or not. This document is issued only by the fire department. As the Ministry, we accept these qualification certificates only from fire departments. There is authority, no obligation. “The decision of how long it will supervise this is left to the institution, that is, the fire department.” he said.
Minister Ersoy said that the fire brigade is obliged to inspect if the business requests, “I am not coming.” Stating that he could not say that, he said:
“This does not have to come only if the business requests it, you have the authority, you can make inspections at any time you want. This is actually the law. Special Provincial Administration, which has the right to speak in the area. This does not relieve your fire department of its liability. Official businesses only receive fire qualification certificates from fire departments. The fire department has the authority to inspect. Let’s look at each establishment as these hotels in Bolu. Since the district municipalities are not sufficient, Bolu Municipality is sufficient. It gives the fire department the authority to inspect repeatedly as long as the qualification certificate is valid. If you grant qualification authority to a place, you are authorized to audit it during the validity period. When you say you have the authority but not the obligation, you leave it up to you to determine the period in which this will be inspected. If the business requests it, you are obliged to do so.”
2) ISTANBUL (AA) –Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said, “All hotels and businesses in Kartalkaya have received their fire brigade qualification certificate from Bolu Fire Brigade. You have to buy it anyway, there is no other place. Bolu Fire Department gives the qualification certificate here. The person who issues the qualification certificate is authorized to inspect. “The debate about authority disappears the moment the certificate of competence is issued.” he said.
Minister Ersoy made statements regarding the agenda and answered questions in the CNN Türk live broadcast.
The question regarding which institution is responsible for issuing a fire qualification certificate to the Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Center Ersoy said, “All hotels and all businesses in Kartalkaya have received their fire brigade qualification certificate from Bolu Fire Department. You have to buy it anyway, there is no other place.Bolu Fire Department gives the qualification certificate here. The person who issues the qualification certificate is authorized to inspect. “The debate about authority disappears the moment the certificate of competence is issued.” he replied.
He said that the subject of the audit to be carried out in line with the request of the institution was distorted and “If the institution does not request it, I will not audit it.” Stating that there is no such situation, Ersoy said, “If requested, it must be inspected. Let’s say you are opening a new business. You need to obtain a work license and business certificate. You automatically go to the fire department ‘Check me at the point of competence.’ you say. You are obliged when requested. As a fire brigade, you can go for inspection whenever you want. Everyone, all mayors know this. This is a very clear rule. Everyone is inspected by the fire department from which they received their qualification certificate, and this continues. ” he said.
Stating that the fire brigade can inspect any business that has a fire qualification certificate and is located in the area under its responsibility, Ersoy stated that if the institution does not accept the inspection, the Special Provincial Administration will send a fire certificate renewal warning to the said institution, and if it is not renewed, the license of the business will be canceled and closed.
Fire qualification certificates are received from fire departmentsStating that the Ministry accepts the qualification certificate only if it is obtained from the fire brigade, Ersoy said, “The qualification certificates of all businesses in Kartalkaya that require a fire qualification certificate are at the Bolu Fire Department.” he said.
Making a statement about the sustainability certificate of the business, Ersoy said:He explained that the sustainability certificate is renewed every year and that the document has nothing to do with the fire certificate.
– “The issues the Ministry supervises are related to tourism”
Pointing out that the control areas implemented by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in businesses are related to tourism, Ersoy said, “The issues inspected by the Ministry are related to tourism. Tourism-related capacities such as classification, quantity and quality. Before going to this audit, I look at the file of the business. I can go if I want, or I can go if there are complaints. I look at his file before I go. Does it have a valid licence? I look at him. Fire qualification, food safety etc. If it is available I am sending the controller. “The Special Provincial Administration has to provide these documents.” he said.
Explaining with documents that Grand Kartal Hotel received a partial license from the Special Provincial Administration, Ersoy continued as follows:
“Grand Kartal Hotel acquired it in parts in 2015. He got it from the Special Provincial Administration. Having a valid business license means submitting a fire brigade qualification report. He bought it for his restaurant in 2013 and for his buffet in 2014. He bought another one in 2015. As I said, licenses are obtained from the Special Provincial Administration. If it’s a valid document, I can do my own checking. As the Ministry, conducting fire inspections is not within our area of expertise. This is a very technical subject. There are water pumps, pressure chambers and a foam system inside. Our controller has no chance of having that qualification. I only did this last year, and I forced him to do it. A fire broke out in two hotels in Antalya Kaleiçi. Two Lebanese people died due to drowning. They died because they didn’t have a smoke detector. They couldn’t build walls in a registered building. They could have made a battery system. We changed the regulation. ‘Now my controllers have to look at the smoke detector.’ I said.”
Ersoy stated that the litigation process is very important and that it should be carried out to the end and the case should be carried out together with experts, and added: “It should not be seen only as a criminal case. As a result of a comprehensive trial, everyone should receive the necessary penalties in proportion to their responsibility. “According to the results of this, we may need to make changes in the legislation and laws.” he said.
3 ) ISTANBUL (AA) –Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy stated that they accepted the news about the deficiencies in another hotel of the owner of the Grand Kartal Hotel as a report and said, “We requested the renewal of the business license of this place. It will already be inspected during renewal. If it is in the area adjacent to the municipality, the municipality will go to it, otherwise the Special Provincial Administration will say, ‘I am renewing your business license, rearrange and update your documents.’ he will say. “Anyway, the fire department has to go to update the license.” he said.
Minister Ersoy made statements regarding the agenda and answered questions in the CNN Türk live broadcast.
Making evaluations about the fire that broke out at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu Kartalkaya Ski Resort, Ersoy noted that the Ministry has closed only 100 facilities in 40 years, and that 4 thousand 380 facilities have been closed since 2022 because they did not meet the qualifications.
Ersoy stated that they are continuing to close it now and said, “Fire protection is not sufficient, there is pollution. The Ministry manages a very serious process regarding this qualification and certification. In Turkey, only the fire department issues the fire qualification certificate. No other institution can provide it. If a fire qualification certificate is required, it must be obtained from the relevant fire department. Since the district fire brigade is not sufficient, it has to get it from the provincial municipality. What we mean by competence is expert competence. In the fire department, there are pumpers and experts. This is a very technical topic. Ministry controllers do not inspect everything.” he said.
Emphasizing that everyone should fulfill their responsibilities, Ersoy noted that the business owner also has a responsibility.
Pointing out the importance of all institutions involved in the certification process using their powers correctly, Ersoy said that exemplary punishments should be given in cases where punishment is required, and if there will be changes in regulations and legislation, this should also be done.
Ersoy said, “We make the decision to close, the implementation is carried out by the municipalities.In our last meeting, I gave instructions to the governorships. I asked him to force the municipalities to complete the closure procedures. We have been running a very effective and intensive program regarding this in the last 3 years. A study that no one has done before. We organize all documents. We close those that do not complete.” he said.
– “We accepted your publication as a report and requested that the business license of this place be renewed.”
Minister Ersoy stated that they accepted the publication of the owner of the burned hotel regarding the deficiencies in his hotel in another location as a notice and that they started the process.
Ersoy said, “We accepted your publication as a notice and requested that the business license of this place be renewed. It will already be inspected during renewal. If it is in the area adjacent to the municipality, the municipality will go to it, otherwise the Special Provincial Administration will say, ‘I am renewing your business license, rearrange and update your documents.’ he will say. You already have to go to the fire department to update your business license. “He already has to apply to the fire department for the update.” he said.
Minister Ersoy also answered the questions that Ahmet Hakan said were raised by CHP Chairman Özgür Özel.
“Why couldn’t a fire brigade be established in the winter tourism region, which was working at full capacity during the semester break?” Answering the question, Ersoy said, “Establishing the fire department is under the authority of the fire brigade. The fire brigade will make a request from the Special Provincial Administration, and the Special Administration will give that request. If this has something to do with finance, hoteliers etc. could gather together, provide support if necessary, and establish a fire station with 2-3 vehicles, like the one in Uludağ. “This is not within our area of responsibility, it is something that the fire department should primarily do.” he said.
Minister Ersoy asked, “How has the hotel continued its activities until today with the fire qualification certificate it received from the then AK Party Bolu Municipality in 2007?” He answered the question as follows:
“In cases where a business and working license needs to be renewed, it is renewed. Renewed on May 17, 2013, renewed on 29.12.2015. I do not rely on the fire department report. For me, the renewal of the business and working license means that the fire brigade report and other reports have also been renewed; the legislation requires it. The institution that gave me that document has to renew it and give it to me. Special Provincial Administration for this place.”
– “110 businesses were given 3 months”
“Why was an exception made and an extension made to the period of fire qualification certificates that hotels must submit to the Ministry by April 30, 2024, according to the legislation?” answer to the questionNoting that this is a very different issue, Ersoy stated that there was no obligation to open a business license before 2005 and that this covered 110 facilities.
Ersoy said, “We requested a fire qualification report because there was a deficiency in the license to open a business in 110 facilities. Since business documents are issued without a business license, ‘You should send us the qualification reports for this.’ we said. The fire qualification report is not something you can get in a few months. Problems may arise and you may need to obtain planning permission. There is no fire escape; in order to install it, you need to make changes to the building and obtain planning permission for it. That’s why an extension was requested. A period of 3 months was granted, at the end of which no extension was made, and 42 of them were closed. “The businesses of those who failed to submit their qualification certificates at the end of 3 months were closed, and 2 of them were later opened for business because they received their qualification certificates again.” he said.
Minister Ersoy said, “In December 2024, an inspection was requested from Bolu Municipality by the hotel, the municipality did not provide a certificate of conformity, from which institution was the certificate of conformity obtained? “From which institution did this hotel continue its operations with the certificate of conformity it received?” He answered the question as follows:
“Official institutions receive fire qualification certificates only from fire departments. You cannot bring us a fire qualification certificate from another institution, you have to bring it from the fire department, it is not valid. That’s the problem. They are referring to the incident on December 12th. He sees these shortcomings on December 12th. This is where I rebel. You personally determine these deficiencies, and then you withdraw this determination and the request for a fire qualification certificate. Instead of withdrawing the request, you need to inform the Special Provincial Administration to which that document will be given about this issue. You don’t do this, you withdraw the document and issue a partial fire qualification certificate to another area. That’s your second mistake anyway. Knowing the inadequacy of the main building, you close your eyes and re-adequate to a partially small area. “If this blind eye had not been carried out and had been reported to a higher authority from the first moment, the business license, this business would have been closed anyway, and when it was closed, we would not be talking about these today.”
– “It received newly issued business licenses for different departments in 2013 and 2015.”
Özel said, “The Minister of Culture and Tourism said that the hotel was inspected in 2021 and 2024 and that it has a fire qualification certificate. Which institution issued these documents?”also the question Minister Ersoy,“In the 2021-2024 audit reports, if we are going for an audit, we first look at the file. We check whether there is a valid business and work license.. Otherwise, we won’t go to the audit anyway, we will start the closure process directly. Has a license to open a business and work. In 2013 and 2015, it received newly issued business licenses for different departments. For me, this is fire report acceptance.“In my opinion, the license to open a business includes a food report, and the Ministry of Health report is a document showing that the reports of all relevant institutions are complete.” he replied.
