One year after Dilovası factory fire killed seven workers, families demand justice

A fire broke out at a cosmetics factory in Dilovası’s Mimar Sinan neighborhood on 8 November 2025. Six workers died initially, and the death toll rose to seven when Tuncay Yıldız, who had been seriously injured, died in hospital on 15 November 2025. The victims were Hanım Gülek, Esma Gikan, Şengül Yılmaz, Tuncay Yıldız, Tuğba Taşdemir, Nisa Taşdemir and Cansu Esatoğlu.

Workers in the unlicensed workshop were employed without insurance and paid below the minimum wage. Perfumes were produced there and sold at prices workers themselves could not afford. Child labour, unsafe working conditions and lack of inspection were among the issues raised after the fire.

“People’s lives must not be turned into money. People’s lives must not cost three or five pennies.”

Emine Nur Aldeniz lost her mother Şengül Yılmaz in the blaze and was two months pregnant and newly married at the time. Her home was located immediately next to the workshop. She said she had been struggling with her mother’s absence and the trauma of the fire for one year, and sometimes watched videos of her mother to hear her voice.

Five court hearings have taken place over the past year. Company officials and municipal employees responsible for the workshop’s continued operation were put on trial. Ali Osman Akat, identified by the families’ lawyers as the real owner, was released at the fifth hearing under a ban on travelling abroad.

The court cited Akat’s and Abdurrahman Bayat’s time in custody and the need to collect evidence in granting their release. The detention of the other six suspects continues. Akat is also linked to money transfers and production organization at Ravive and LYKEE companies, though he is tried in this case for “destroying evidence”.

On the first anniversary, families held a memorial service at Dilovası Central Mosque and then marched to Kent Square. District Governor Resul Çelik, Mayor Ramazan Ömeroğlu, party representatives, relatives and many citizens attended. Families again demanded that those responsible be severely punished.