A fire at a perfume warehouse in Turkey’s Kocaeli province on Saturday has reignited outrage over chronic workplace safety failures in the country, after it emerged that children and unregistered workers were employed despite prior complaints to authorities and a lack of basic precautions.
A fire broke out on Saturday morning at a perfume warehouse in the town of Dilovası, killing six workers and injuring five others. Three of the victims were minors, while two others were aged 65 and 55. The health minister visited the site following the incident, which sparked widespread public outrage, while several other ministers and high-level government officials offered condolences and pledged that those responsible would be brought to justice.
Following the incident, it emerged that child workers had been employed at the warehouse while basic fire safety measures were lacking and workers had no access to warning or evacuation systems. Employees reportedly received neither proper training nor adequate protective equipment.
Despite previous complaints reportedly filed with the Presidential Communications Center (CİMER) and the Dilovası Municipality, the warehouse had continued operating.
Authorities have detained 11 people in connection with the fire, while seven officials from the Social Security Institution (SGK) and the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) have been suspended. Following the claim of former warehouse employees that the owner had routinely bribed local authorities with gifts such as perfume and cigarettes to avoid inspections, the deputy mayor, the chief of the local police force and three municipal officials were also removed from their posts on Tuesday.
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel identified the warehouse owner as Ali Osman Akat, who previously supplied disinfectants and cologne to the Turkish Parliament during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said Akat was arrested after narcotics were found among raw materials he imported but was later acquitted.
In April 2024 a nightclub fire in Istanbul killed 24 workers, while in February a blaze in a ski resort in Bolu claimed 78 people, pointing to a continued pattern of deadly workplace accidents and lack of progress in occupational safety since the 2014 Soma mining disaster, which left 301 miners dead.
Public debate has focused on employers’ failure to take precautions despite known risks and on the lack of regular preventive inspections by relevant authorities. Critics also note that judicial investigations and trials rarely hold all responsible parties accountable, while lenient sentences and the failure to authorize probes into public officials undermine deterrence.
At least 169 workers died in workplace accidents across Turkey in October, according to a monthly report by the Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG), bringing the total number of workplace deaths in 2025 to date to 1,737.
According to İSİG data, nearly 35,000 workers have died in workplace accidents since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in November 2002.
