Turkey keeps 24 in jail over airport protests

Istanbul, Turkey - A Turkish court on Wednesday ordered 24 workers and union activists to stay in jail after they were detained in a mass crackdown over protests on working conditions at Istanbul’s giant new airport.

Hundreds of workers from the airport had been rounded up at the weekend after reportedly protesting and striking over alleged labour violations in the frenetic construction to finish the airport on time for its opening next month.

The airport, which has yet to be officially named, is a key project championed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to make Istanbul a global travel hub and turn flag carrier Turkish Airlines into an aviation giant.

But workers at the airport have made complaints ranging from alleged violations of labour safety which led to dozens of deaths on the site to a lack of properly-organised transport to take them to and from the new airport close to the Black Sea.

Some 36,000 people are working at the site as the clock ticks to the official opening on October 29 and complete shift of flights from Ataturk International Airport which is then to be immediately closed.

Most of those detained in the weekend sweep were released without charge but 43 appeared before a judge at a court in the Istanbul district of Gaziosmanpasa late on Tuesday. Of them, 24 were remanded in custody while 19 were allowed to go free under judicial control, the DHA news agency reported.

The figures were confirmed by construction labour union Insaat Is-Sendikasi on its Twitter account. There had been uproar on social media over the initial detentions.

Some 36,000 people are working at the site as the clock ticks to the official opening on October 29