Erdogan says new Istanbul airport will open on time despite workers' strike

Istanbul's new international airport will open as scheduled on 29 October, despite a worker's strike, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said. 

The airport, dubbed as being one of Erdogan's signature projects, has faced protests after unions raised concerns over safety and working conditions.  

"The opening date is 29 October, tests have been carried out... the terminal building is ready, the runways are really beautiful," Erdogan told journalists on Sunday.

Hundreds of workers from the airport were rounded up on 16 September after protesting and striking over alleged labour violations in the frenetic construction to finish the airport on time for its opening next month.

The protest broke out after a shuttle bus accident in which 17 workers were injured, said Ozgur Karabulut, general manager of the Dev Yapi-Is union.

A Turkish court on Wednesday ordered 24 workers and union activists to stay in jail after they were detained in the mass crackdown.

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.

In February, Turkey's labour ministry said 27 workers had died at the airport since the start of work there in 2015, mainly from work accidents or health problems.

Workers have also complained about poor food at the site, bed bugs in their sleeping quarters and delayed salaries.

Pictures they posted online showed cracks in the ceilings and walls of the container homes where they are housed.

Unions have long complained about working conditions and labour safety at the airport, but under a state of emergency imposed after a failed 2016 coup and only lifted in July, rights to strike or protest were curtailed.

'Marginal groups'

The transport ministry issued a statement blaming "marginal groups" for the protests and insisting that the official opening was still scheduled for 29 October.

The problems stoked speculation the unveiling could be pushed back to 31 December, but Erdogan rejected any talk of delay.

"There is no such thing," said the president, who visited the site, located on the European side of Istanbul, on Saturday.

At the same time, Erdogan announced that Ataturk Airport, due to be replaced by the new facility, would not be closed immediately for redevelopment.

"Ataturk Airport is not going to halt activity all at once; there will be a transition period," he said.

Initially, the airport will handle up to 90 million passengers a year, rising to 150 million by 2023, the government says.

Some 36,000 people are working at the site as the clock ticks to the official unveiling.

Despite the imminent opening it has yet to be named with speculation that it could be named again after Ataturk, a sultan like the late Ottoman-era leader Abdulhamid II or even Erdogan himself.