Fired Turkish Air CFO sues carrier as link to Gulen denied

Former Turkish Airlines CFO Coskun Kilic said he’s suing to be reinstated to the job following a “completely unfair” mass firing at the carrier last month that was part of a government purge against alleged coup plotters. The lawsuit, which Kilic said he filed in an Istanbul administrative court last week, demands that the state-controlled carrier either rehire him or pay compensation and clarify that the reason for the sacking wasn’t related to the purge of employees allegedly tied to US-based imam Fethullah Gulen. Authorities say that Gulen’s followers in the Turkish military plotted the attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 15, and tens of thousands of people have been removed from jobs in government or state-regulated industries. While Turkish Airlines didn’t explain Kilic’s departure when it replaced him, it announced the move at the same time as the dismissal of 211 employees that it said have links to a movement that Gulen leads. “Turkish Airlines’ decision to fire us without showing a real reason is damaging people’s reputation, because we were portrayed as if we are linked with that terror organisation,” Kilic said Monday. Most of the sacked ones are from finance and accounting departments including senior executives, he said. Yahya Ustun, a spokesman at the carrier, declined to comment Monday on Kilic’s remarks. By firing people in key financial positions, “you are destroying the corporate memory of the company by eliminating a team that brought in so much financing to the company for the company’s future growth,” Kilic said. The airline has plans to grow its fleet to more than 430 aircraft in 2022 from about 300 at the start of this year.<br/>