"Administrative sanctions have been applied 5 times"
The TBMM Kartalkaya Ski Resort Hotel Fire Investigation Commission convened under the presidency of AK Party Erzurum Deputy Selami Altınok. Following the opening speech of Commission Chairman Altınok, CHP Group Deputy Chairman Ali Mahir Başarır said that despite the commission holding its 3rd meeting, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan did not attend the commission. Başarır said, "If the ministers are not here, there is no point in our being here as the opposition. The activities of the investigation commission will turn into a theater, upset people, and cast a shadow over the prestige of the parliament. The investigation commission does not listen to the minister. I think this is a scandal, a saddening situation. As the CHP group, we do not want to be a party to this theater, this unlawfulness if there is no minister. We are leaving the commission."
AKP and MHP deputies reacted to Başarır's words. After the discussion, the CHP group left the committee meeting. The New Path Party group made the same decision and left the hall. İYİ Party Çanakkale Deputy Rıdvan Uz also said, "I am leaving the meeting, thinking that we will not follow a meeting without ministers as the İYİ Party group and that this is not right and that we will not get a right result for the nation" and left the hall.
The commission meeting continued with the AKP, MHP and DEM Party deputies. While the meeting was ongoing, a procedural discussion took place between the AKP deputies and DEM Party Bingöl Deputy Ömer Faruk Hülakü. DEM Party's Hülakü also left the hall after the discussion.
'TOURISM BUSINESS CERTIFICATE IS A QUALITY CERTIFICATE'Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Nadir Alpaslan made the presentation. Alpaslan said that the Tourism Operation Certificate is a quality certificate given to tourism businesses during the operation phase by taking into account the type, class, capacity and personnel qualifications; that businesses that cannot obtain a business opening and operating license from the authorized municipality or Provincial Special Administration are not given a tourism operation certificate. Alpaslan said, "The tourism operation certificate is a 'quality certificate' and is not sufficient to open and operate a hotel on its own."
'THE MINISTRY DETERMINES THE TYPE AND CLASS OF THE FACILITY'Alpaslan reminded that the Kartalkaya region is within the authority and responsibility area of the Bolu Provincial Special Administration due to being outside the municipality’s neighboring area borders and said, “The Grand Kartal Hotel’s business and operating license was first issued by the Bolu Provincial Special Administration in 2007 and was re-arranged by the same administration in 2015. The administration authorized to issue a business and operating license can decide whether a facility can be an accommodation facility or not. Only the type and class of the accommodation facility is determined by the Ministry. There are many regulations that a hotel must comply with, such as zoning regulations, environmental regulations, fire protection regulations, tax regulations, and occupational health and safety. Compliance with the rules in these regulations is inspected by the relevant public institutions and organizations. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s inspection authority over hotels is defined in Article 30 of the Tourism Incentive Law as ‘Conducting inspections on the basis of certification of businesses requesting a document, inspections on the qualifications of documented investments and businesses, and classification of businesses’.”
'FIRE CONTROL IS UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF RELEVANT INSTITUTIONS'Alpaslan explained that, in accordance with Article 18 of the Regulation on the Inspection of Tourism Investments, Businesses and Organizations, the authority to determine and inspect cleanliness, order, service, price, administration and operation, qualifications that form the basis of obtaining a certificate, and personnel qualifications in certified tourism businesses belongs to the ministry, and that inspections regarding health and environmental pollution are carried out by physicians and health personnel of authorized public institutions and organizations, and inspections regarding business and work licenses are carried out by the public institution that issues the business and work license. Alpaslan said, "As can be seen, issues requiring expertise such as fire, food inspection, pool water hygiene, noise insulation, and elevator certification are under the authority of the relevant institutions, and our ministry's inspection officers are not under the scope of duty and authority, and they do not have any competence in these matters. The existence of a business opening and operating license is an indication that the necessary inspections and audits have been carried out by the authorized bodies according to their own legislation and that it is technically competent. As can be understood from here, the tourism business certificate is not a document indicating the technical competence of the facility, zoning and fire safety, but is a quality certificate, and is not sufficient to open and operate a hotel on its own."
Alpaslan stated that during the inspections conducted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in accommodation facilities, the factors that are looked at are whether the facility has spaces that are large enough for its intended use, whether the tourism facility will continue to be rated as a 3, 4, 5 star facility, whether the service provided is qualified and the facility is clean and well-maintained, whether the minimum requirements for general areas such as restaurants, SPA, lobbies and bedrooms are met, whether the number of rooms is appropriate according to their type and class, whether there is a change in the capacity specified in the tourism document, personnel qualifications and quality elements for determining the type of facility.
SANCTIONS IMPOSED ON THE BURNING HOTELAlpaslan said that inspections had been carried out by the ministry controllers in the past regarding the Grand Kartal Hotel and said, "In line with the reports containing administrative sanction recommendations due to the detected non-conformities to the legislation, administrative sanctions (3 warnings and 2 administrative fines) have been applied to the facility 5 times." Alpaslan said that as a result of 3 separate inspections conducted in 2021, a recommendation was made to update the tourism operation certificate for various reasons upon the letter of the General Directorate of Forestry. Alpaslan stated that in the inspection conducted upon the complaint regarding the chairlift on September 13, 2024, a warning and administrative fine were imposed due to various deficiencies; and on January 23, 2025, the cancellation of the certificate following the fire was suggested upon the letter of the Provincial Directorate.
Alpaslan, referring to the work carried out by the ministry after the fire, said, "Accommodation facilities that are granted a business and operating license by the authorized administration in accordance with the Tourism Encouragement Law are required to obtain a tourism business certificate from our ministry within 6 months from the date they receive this license, and accommodation facilities that fail to obtain this certificate within the legal period cannot operate. In this context, we have instructed the 81 Provincial Governorships with 7 separate letters written at different times since the date the law regulation entered into force to terminate the activities of accommodation facilities operating off the record without a license, and to terminate the activities of accommodation facilities that fail to obtain a tourism certificate within the due period by cancelling their business and operating licenses."
'4,380 FACILITIES WERE CLOSED IN 3 YEARS'Alpaslan stated that as a result of the ministry's work, a total of 6,207 accommodation businesses were terminated by local administrations across the country, and noted that these efforts have been carried out intensively since the end of 2022, regardless of the fire. Alpaslan said, "However, it has been conveyed to our ministry that an intensive inspection effort was initiated after the fire, under the coordination of both governorates and municipalities, and deficiencies were detected in many facilities and closure sanctions were imposed. While approximately 100 facilities with missing documents were closed by local administrations upon the notification of our ministry in the last 40 years before 2022; in the approximately 3-year period from 2022 to January 2025, the number of facilities closed by the authorized administrations out of the facilities notified by our ministry is 4,380. The number of facilities closed in 1 month as a result of inspections conducted by the relevant administration after January 21, 2025 is 1,827."
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