253 hotels identified with lack of safety measures in Istanbul after Kartalkaya fire
File photo shows opened door of a hotel room with a key and a room number tag in the lock. (Adobe Stock Photo)
The Istanbul Governorate decided to close 253 hotels by Feb. 2 due to insufficient safety measures, as inspections have intensified following the deadly hotel fire at Bolu’s Kartalkaya ski resort.
According to information obtained by Turkish news outlet t24.com.tr, some hotels in 12 of Istanbul’s 39 districts were found to be operating in violation of regulations.
Most of the hotels facing closure are concentrated in the city center and major tourist areas, with Beyoglu leading the list with 64 hotels set to close, followed by Beykoz with 46 and Arnavutkoy with 40.
Districts of hotel closures in Istanbul
The list of districts and the number of hotels to be shut down is as follows:
- Beyoglu: 64
- Beykoz: 46
- Arnavutkoy: 40
- Sisli: 33
- Esenyurt: 19
- Kucukcekmece: 13
- Pendik: 8
- Umraniye: 8
- Fatih: 7
- Tuzla: 6
- Kadikoy: 5
- Atasehir: 4
Hotel inspections intensified following Kartalkaya fire
In the wake of the Kartalkaya fire disaster, which claimed the lives of 78 people on Jan. 21 due to negligence stemming from a lack of basic fire safety measures, authorities intensified efforts to identify non-compliant accommodations.
On Jan. 30, Istanbul Governor Davut Gul announced during a provincial coordination board meeting that all accommodation facilities operating without a license or lacking a basic accommodation certificate from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism would be shut down by Feb. 3.
The process had already been initiated through district governorships, he added.
