We have left behind an eventful two weeks. First, the government launched a campaign of detentions, arrests, and trustee appointments targeting certain opposition politicians and municipalities, with Ekrem İmamoğlu as the ultimate target. Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat was arrested. CHP Youth Branch Chairman Cem Aydın was detained and later released after questioning. Meanwhile, Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ was arrested at a restaurant in Ankara for allegedly insulting the President during a speech in Antalya. He was transferred to Istanbul, and two days later, he was detained again—this time on charges of inciting hatred and enmity.Amid this political turmoil, a fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya claimed the lives of 79 citizens. The fact that the fire occurred during the semester holiday, with a high number of children staying at the hotel, only deepened the tragedy. Nearly half of the victims were under 18.The intense polarization and political rhetoric that had reached a peak before the fire quickly shifted focus in its immediate aftermath. The question "Who is responsible?" became not just a debate on social media but also the focal point of a blame game among state institutions. CHP's Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan stated that the hotel was located outside the municipal jurisdiction. Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy countered, claiming that the hotel had received a fire safety certificate from the fire department. However, Özcan denied this claim, stating that an inspection was conducted in December 2024 following the hotel's application and that multiple fire safety deficiencies were identified. However, since the hotel later withdrew its application, the municipality was legally unable to take further action. According to Özcan, the hotel subsequently obtained approval from a ministry-certified company just a few days later. Hotel owner Halit Ergül, in his testimony, claimed that the Ministry of Tourism inspected the hotel on December 15, 2024, and found issues with doors but did not identify any fire safety deficiencies. As of the writing of this article, 19 individuals, including the deputy mayor, have been detained in connection with the fire.How meaningful are these discussions after 78 people have already lost their lives? Of course, identifying those responsible and ensuring they receive the appropriate punishment is crucial. Administrative law experts have provided clear opinions on the division of responsibility in this debate. However, there is also widespread and justified public skepticism about whether anyone will actually be held accountable.This disaster has highlighted two major shortcomings in the country: the need for fair trials and the lack of state capacity. The administration is responsible for preventing such tragedies through regulatory measures, administrative actions, and inspections. Ensuring citizen safety is not just an incidental duty of the state—it is its primary, non-partisan responsibility, an essential element of its very existence. Can a state that fails to enforce its own laws still be called a state?Monopolizing the use of force is a necessary but insufficient condition for being a state. In Turkey, those in power are particularly fond of the state's monopoly on violence, yet they fail to recognize that when this monopoly ceases to be a means of establishing order and instead becomes a tool for eliminating political opponents, the state gradually loses its legitimacy. At the end of the day, we are faced with a stark contradiction: an administration and a judiciary that demonstrate immediate capacity and resolve to launch an investigation against an opposition politician within an hour of a speech yet take no concrete steps to identify the failure of a fire alarm system in a hotel accommodating hundreds of people.So what should the true priorities of a state, an administration, and a government be? How should existing state capacity be utilized? Should it be used to imprison opposition politicians, or to ensure the safety of citizens?

The Freedom Observer

So what should the true priorities of a state, an administration, and a government be? How should existing state capacity be utilized? Should it be used to imprison opposition politicians, or to ensure the safety of citizens?

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