Turkey: hotel fire tragedy triggers political row
78 people died early last week in a fire at a ski resort hotel in the Bolu moutains in Turkey. The hotel's owner and manager as well as several more people have been arrested. The tourism minister of the ruling AKP party and the opposition CHP mayor blame each other for lacking safety checks; apparently there were blatant violations of the fire safety regulations.
We must not suppress this calamity
One man-made disaster follows another in Turkey without any lessons being learned, Hürriyet fumes:
“With every fire, every disaster, every struggle for survival, it's the same story. Lack of supervision, negligence, irresponsibility. ... Now people ask: 'How was this hotel allowed to start operating?' - 'Who approved it?' - 'Why were the fire escapes inadequate?' And as always, instead of answering, those asked will remain silent. ... Disasters happen in this country and that's that. And then? The days pass and we forget. But this fire is such a blaze that it will never be extinguished in our conscience.”
Take responsibility instead of blaming each other
Both sides bear their share of the blame for the disaster, complains Yeni Akit:
“So far no one has taken responsibility for the hotel fire in Bolu. Worse still, those involved have merely presented laws and regulations and the like with which they seek to protect themselves and blame the opposing party. It's shocking. A tragedy occurs and responsibility is passed back and forth, to the advantage and disadvantage of both sides. Unfortunately, no one seems aware that such disorganisation and deliberate ambiguity legitimises immorality - or worse, everyone is taking advantage of this legitimate immorality.”
No control over powerful entrepreneurs
None of the responsible authorities dared to inspect the hotel because its owners are too powerful, Karar criticises:
“The fact that is least talked about but which really needs to be addressed is that the owner of the hotel is someone who is not easy to subject to controls. ... It certainly can't be easy to adequately supervise a family that has created three of Bolu's most famous tourism brands (Varan Facilities, Koru Hotel and Kartalkaya). It may not have occurred to anyone to check whether the oldest and one of most expensive hotels in Kartalkaya, Turkey's posh ski resort, complies with fire safety regulations. Or maybe no one dared to do so until now.”