Turkey: Workers Behind Bars as Airport Opens
31 Held for Protesting Construction Conditions; Many Others Fired


(Istanbul, October 29, 2018) -- President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan opens Istanbul’s third airport today amid a labor dispute that has led to the jailing and criminal investigation of 31 workers, Human Rights Watch said today. The workers, including a union leader, had been protesting working conditions at the airport construction site. Union representatives told Human Rights Watch that an unrevealed number of workers who joined the protest were promptly dismissed from their jobs and that the airport construction site is being heavily policed to prevent any further demonstrations.