Families and residents gathered in freezing temperatures early Wednesday to commemorate the 78 people who died in a hotel fire in northwestern Turkey a year ago, as the families continue to seek justice, Turkish Minute reported.
The Grand Kartal Hotel, a 12-story ski resort in Bolu province’s Kartalkaya mountain area, caught fire shortly after midnight on January 21, 2025, killing 78 people, including 36 children, and injuring 133. Entire families perished in the blaze, which has become a symbol of what critics call Turkey’s systemic failures in building safety, inspections and political accountability.
The memorial was held outside the hotel at 3:17 a.m., the time the blaze broke out a year ago. Photographs and banners bearing victims’ names were displayed, carnations were laid and candles were lit. Participants also released balloons into the sky, while the names of those who died and the figures of angels were projected onto the hotel’s facade with lasers.
Some family members were seen weeping and embracing one another, the T24 news website reported.
‘We are the living dead’
Rıfat Doğan, who lost his wife, Ceren Yaman Doğan, and his 16-year-old daughter, Lalin Doğan, said the family’s grief had not eased with time.
“They took the color and taste of our lives,” he said. “Life may go on, but we are the living dead.”
Relatives repeatedly returned to a single demand: accountability, not only for those convicted in the first trial, but also for public officials they say enabled the disaster.
Serpil Gençbay, who lost her son, called for all responsible parties to get the punishment they deserve. “Let no one get away with what they did,” she said, adding that families want their children “to rest in peace.”
Eray Mercan, who lost his son Alp Mercan, said the ruling to punish those responsible would not bring back the victims but should help prevent similar tragedies. “This struggle cannot be in vain,” he said. “These lives cannot have been lost for nothing.”
Case remains active on appeal
The fire killed 78 people and injured 133, becoming one of the deadliest hotel fires on record.
An indictment drafted by the Bolu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office led to charges against 32 suspects, including the hotel’s owner, senior managers and public officials. The main trial began on July 7 and concluded with a ruling announced on October 31, according to Turkish media reports.
The court sentenced 11 defendants, including hotel owner Halit Ergül, to 34 life sentences on charges of “killing with possible intent” for the death of 34 children in the fire, and imposed additional prison terms of almost 25 years for each of the 44 adult victims.
Eighteen other defendants were convicted of “causing death and injuries through conscious negligence,” while three were acquitted.
The Bolu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office appealed parts of the ruling, arguing that the use of “possible intent” and the sentences imposed on some defendants were excessive and should be reduced to negligence-based charges.
Families say their legal fight continues, particularly in efforts to bring ministry-linked officials to trial.
Among those attending the commemoration was Abdurrahman Gençbay, head of the Council of State’s 9th Chamber, who said his son Yiğit Gençbay initially escaped the hotel but re-entered the building with his friend Alp after hearing cries for help and died inside.
Gençbay described the fire as the result of “organized wrongdoing,” saying the families had clung to faith in justice over the past year. He praised the court ruling as a rare moment that restored public trust in the judiciary by breaking the perception of impunity.
At the same time, he said the case began “incompletely,” arguing that public officials responsible for inspections, including personnel linked to the Tourism Ministry and the Labor and Social Security Ministry, were not initially brought before the courts because investigation permits were not granted.
Gençbay said that relatives, including himself, have called for the suspension of certain officials who are allowed to be investigated but remain in their posts.
‘You survive but can’t be thankful’
Survivors have continued to describe a chain of failures in the first minutes of the fire, including claims that no alarm sounded and that guests were not warned to evacuate during what experts often describe as a critical eight to 10-minute window for escape.
“Think about it: you survive, but you can’t be thankful,” dentist Sıdıka Akdeniz told BBC Turkish edition, describing the trauma that followed.
Survivors said they woke up on their own, attempted to trigger corridor alarms without success and were forced to change routes as hallways filled with thick smoke. Some said they escaped through lower-level exits, while others described calling friends and family members trapped on higher floors until phones stopped being answered.
BBC Turkish reported that the Culture and Tourism Ministry, responding to questions, pointed to remarks made by Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy during parliamentary budget talks on December 12, 2025, in which he referred to earlier inspections and said the judicial process was ongoing.
The Labor and Social Security Ministry did not respond to BBC Turkish’s questions, the outlet said.
