Fire in mountain hotel reveals deeper problems

The devastating fire on Tuesday night in the Grand Kartal mountain hotel shocked Turkey. 76 people died in the disaster. Dozens of them are still unidentified. The government has declared a day of mourning, and flags are flying at half-mast in many places. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan traveled to the disaster area with his wife on Wednesday to attend a funeral for those who died.

In the shadow of the tragedy, a heated debate has begun about who is responsible for the disaster. It seems undisputed that structural defects contributed to the large number of victims. Local media quoted survivors as saying that the wood-clad hotel had inadequate fire protection facilities. The fire alarm didn’t work, a sprinkler system was never installed despite instructions to do so, and the fire escapes were difficult to access.

Accordingly, the guests who were surprised by the fire while they were sleeping were quickly surrounded by the flames. The police have now arrested eleven people in connection with the disaster, including the hotel manager and a head of the local fire department.

Black peter game between government and opposition

The politically more delicate question is why an apparently inadequately equipped hotel even has an operating license. As is usually the case in Turkey, this dispute also has a party-political dimension. The government and opposition are passing the buck to each other.

The Ministry of Tourism in Ankara blames the Bolu municipality and the local fire department for inadequate control of fire safety measures. In addition, the fire brigade arrived at the scene of the fire too late.

Bolu is the next largest city and capital of the province of the same name. Mayor Tanju Özcal belongs to the largest opposition party, CHP. The Kemalist politician has a certain level of notoriety across the country, partly because of his harsh measures against Syrian refugees and his harsh criticism of Erdogan’s migration policy.

Burnt hotel was certified

According to Mayor Özcal, however, it is not his city but the Ministry of Tourism that is responsible for the necessary inspections. After all, the hotel is outside the municipal area. In fact, in this case the responsibilities overlap.

The anti-government news portal “T24” reports that the burned hotel received a certificate for sustainable tourism from the state agency for tourism promotion last year. However, some training provided for in the certification process is said to have never been carried out.

Ironically, this also includes fire protection. In addition, the owner of the burned hotel is a member of the local board of the State Agency for Tourism Promotion, the institution that certified his hotel.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has promised to clarify responsibilities within ten days. The reporting ban that Ankara imposed after the disaster was lifted on Wednesday.

Different scandals, similar causes

Opaque entanglements of this kind are likely to reinforce the already widespread impression among government critics that during the 23-year reign of Erdogan’s AK Party, corrupt structures have formed in many places that subordinate the common good to financial profit.

In the newspaper “Cumhuriyet”, the main newspaper of the opposition CHP, a commentator writes: “The hotels are expensive, but life is worth nothing.” Other voices point to the structural deficiencies that came to light after the earthquake in the southeast, or to the so-called newborn scandal last fall.

For profit reasons, seriously ill newborns in several private hospitals were systematically transferred to intensive care units, even if these were not equipped for treatment. Dozens of young children who might have been saved died.

Bad advertising for Turkey

But the fire also casts a shadow on the Turkish tourism industry. Last year, more than 50 million foreign guests visited the country for the first time. The local tourism hotspots – Istanbul, Cappadocia and the Mediterranean coast – are among the top international destinations. Aside from the large flows of visitors, there are sometimes significant differences in quality.

Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has long been committed to diversifying the industry in order to ensure sustained growth in this important economic sector. One aspect of this is winter tourism. Although Turkey is primarily associated with beach holidays, with its mountainous landscape and continental climate it has a lot to offer even in the cold season. With the exception of the Palandöken ski area near Erzurum, which also attracts guests from Russia, this is largely unknown outside the country’s borders.

The Kartalkaya fire disaster has brought Turkish winter sports into the media all at once – but in the worst possible way.