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Türkiye Arrests 15 Over Deadly Fire at Ski Resort

Mourners carry the coffin of Vedia Nil Apak during the funeral of Ferda Apak and her daughter Vedia Nil Apak, killed in a huge fire in a ski resort hotel in Bolu, at Sakirin Mosque in Istanbul on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP)
Mourners carry the coffin of Vedia Nil Apak during the funeral of Ferda Apak and her daughter Vedia Nil Apak, killed in a huge fire in a ski resort hotel in Bolu, at Sakirin Mosque in Istanbul on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP)
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Türkiye Arrests 15 Over Deadly Fire at Ski Resort

Mourners carry the coffin of Vedia Nil Apak during the funeral of Ferda Apak and her daughter Vedia Nil Apak, killed in a huge fire in a ski resort hotel in Bolu, at Sakirin Mosque in Istanbul on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP)
Mourners carry the coffin of Vedia Nil Apak during the funeral of Ferda Apak and her daughter Vedia Nil Apak, killed in a huge fire in a ski resort hotel in Bolu, at Sakirin Mosque in Istanbul on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP)

Türkiye has arrested 15 people as part of an investigation into a fire that killed 78 people and injured dozens at a ski resort in the Bolu mountains earlier this week, state media reported on Sunday.

The tragedy has sparked calls for accountability and reform, and independent experts have said the Grand Kartal Hotel, at the Kartalkaya ski resort in western Türkiye, lacked basic fire safety measures.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Türkiye 's judiciary was working to punish all those responsible for the incident. The hotel's management has pledged full cooperation.
On Sunday, Türkiye 's state-owned Anadolu news agency said the hotel's owner, manager, director, and 12 others were arrested as part of the probe. According to Reuters, itt said judicial proceedings continued for the deputy mayor of the Bolu province and the head of the local fire department, while six others were released under certain conditions.
The blaze started in the restaurant floor of the 12-story building, which had 238 registered guests, at around 3:30 a.m.

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Türkiye's Opposition to Name Presidential Candidate in Coming Months

A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
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Türkiye's Opposition to Name Presidential Candidate in Coming Months

A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)

Türkiye's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) will name its presidential candidate for the next election in coming months, its leader said on Tuesday in what he called a move to counter a judicial crackdown on his party.

The next presidential and parliamentary elections are not scheduled until 2028, but the opposition has repeatedly called for an early vote after recent detentions and investigations into CHP-run municipalities.

"Today, ... by completing all the preparations ... in February, March and April, we are starting today to say that we are ready to (counter) this evil," Ozgur Ozel said in an address to CHP parliamentarians, alluding to the investigations.

Some 1.6 million CHP members will choose the party's presidential candidate in an internal vote, he added, Reuters reported.

On Monday, an Istanbul prosecutor launched another judicial investigation into the city's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a CHP member, for allegedly trying to influence the judiciary after he criticised legal inquiries into opposition-run municipalities.

Imamoglu, seen as a likely future presidential challenger to Tayyip Erdogan, accused Erdogan's government of using the judiciary as a political tool to pressure the opposition.

Ozel said the investigations into Imamoglu showed how Erdogan's AK Party was afraid of him.

The government denies accusations of political interference in the cases and says the judiciary is independent.

Erdogan, re-elected last year, is serving his last term as president permitted by the constitution, unless parliament calls an early election. He has ruled Türkiye for more than 21 years, first as prime minister and then as president.

An early election needs the support of 360 MPs in the 600-seat parliament. AKP and its allies command 321 seats.

The AKP spokesperson recently said that a formula for a new term for Erdogan was "on the party's agenda," hinting at a move to enact a constitutional amendment to make that possible.

A constitutional amendment could also be put to a referendum if 360 lawmakers endorsed it.