The fire broke out in the restaurant of Grand Kartal Hotel in Kartalkaya, Bolu province. Authorities say at least 78 people are dead and more 50 injured.
The fire broke out at the wooden-clad 12-storey Grand Kartal Hotel in Bolu at 03:27 local time (00:27 GMT) during a busy holiday period when 234 people were staying there. It took 12 hours to put out.
An investigation has been launched into the incident and there have been conflicting reports about whether the hotel was up to safety standards.
The cause of the fire is not yet clear. However, authorities in Türkiye are blaming each other over who is responsible for the area where the hotel is located.
Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy claimed that the responsibility for the fire at the hotel lies with the fire department affiliated with the Bolu Municipality, while Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan stated that all authority and responsibility in Kartalkaya, a touristic area, lies with the Ministry of Tourism.
The preliminary report prepared by the expert committee assigned to shed light on the incident showed the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the hotel operator and the Provincial Special Administration affiliated with the Governor's Office as responsible.
After Özgür Özel, the leader of the main opposition party CHP, shared the preliminary report on social media, the Turkish Minister of Justice reacted and declared the report 'pirate'.
Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan claimed that the government put pressure on the expert committee to blame the municipality for the fire in the report, and according to the latest information, the government has formed a new expert committee to investigate the incident.
As part of the investigation launched following the disaster, 14 people were detained and the hotel's owner and general manager were arrested.