"Camel sacrifice" incident sparks controversy at Turkish Airlines
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim has characterized this week's sacrifice of a camel in the apron area of Ataturk Airport by workers an "example of tactless behavior." The Turkish Airlines workers who sacrificed the camel were reportedly celebrating the successful return of an RJ100 type British-built airplane to the firm from which it had been ordered, following the discovery of a series of technical problems with the airplane.
While a preliminary investigation into the event is continuing, the head of Turkish Airlines' Airplane Maintenance Facility, Sukru Can, has been fired from his position, sources report.
Speaking about the "camel sacrifice" incident with reporters yesterday, Transportation Minister Yildirim had this to say:
"It is wrong to blame an entire organization for a mistake made by one colleague whose mind is still in the past. The necessary orders have been given in the wake of this incident, and that colleague has been removed from his job. The investigation is continuing. Sacrificing a camel is not a talent. It is more important that Turkish Airlines carries out its job well, and works on addressing any complaints that citizens using it might have. Which is why it is not fair to compare this giant, well-established company with a couple of tactless mistakes that might have been made. The important thing is that the necessary measures have been taken."
In a statement made in connection with the camel sacrifice incident by Turkish Airlines itself, the organization clarified that the workers had gathered money on their own initiative to buy and sacrifice the camel. Turkish Airlines also noted that they had given their own orders for an investigation into the matter.
The police headquarters at Ataturk Airport had this to comment on the incident: "We did not realize they were sacrificing a camel. We, thinking that they were going to sacrifice a ram, didn't think it would look good to have a ram walking out the doors of the airport and to the apron, so we gave permission for it to be driven there. But in fact there had been no permission received from the Goods Management Headquarters. The head of the Airplane Maintenance Facility lied to us about this."