The Atatürk Badge Controversy at Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines, one of the biggest companies in Turkiye, and also a well-known airline firm in the global scene, has made a change in its company policy regarding the uniforms of the cabin crew. This changed regulation wrote that only the official Turkish Airlines seniority badge could be worn with the uniform; this meant that all other badges, including the ones with Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the Turkish flag, were banned.

The reasoning behind this regulation was stated as that it is an aim to standardize the clothing and achieve uniformity between the employees of Turkish Airlines. Yet, as this company is affiliated with the government and the current political party in charge, many people, who generally supported the main opposition party of the country, which is the one Mustafa Kemal Atatürk personally established and became the president of, suggested that this step was taken to disregard the role of Atatürk in society.

This new measure sparked a great public debate, and the company faced harsh criticism from both unions and celebrities. As stated above, many saw the policy as something that degraded Turkish identity; it was not seen as something corporate but more as something cultural and political in relation to the current status quo.

Aviation journalist and commentator Ali Kıdık discussed the issue in social and traditional media as something more than a technical measure and just a change in the uniforms, and as something that should attract public attention. Additionally, many users from the social media platform X and on eksisozluk criticized Turkish Airlines, and some of them called for a boycott. The users mainly stated that a national airline should not limit the use of national symbols in its company, especially if it is something like the flag, which makes up the identity of the Turkish nation. Some celebrities also reacted to the issue, for example, Mustafa Sandal, a popular singer, declared that he will be wearing Atatürk and Turkish flag badges on any flight that he will be doing with the airline company from now on in order to show his reaction and put it into action.

When looking into the past, this act can be traced back to 2011, when another debate about the uniforms of the cabin crew was published by the Turkish airline company. In this regulation, the company clarified that there were no explicit bans on Atatürk or Turkish flag badges despite the complaints regarding uniforms.

In spite of all of these debates, there are some who mention that these reactions do not show the reality explicitly. For instance, Can Özçelik, a journalist, has reported that he asked THY officials about the issue and reported that the officials said there is no intervention preventing cabin crew from wearing Turkish flag or Atatürk badges. After their meeting, Özçelik highlighted the fact that the new document is the same as the one published in 2009, which states, “Utmost care shall be taken to ensure that no badges are worn on the jacket or vest lapel other than the badges, wings, and name tags issued by THY, and that no yoyos of different colors are used.” This meant that, in fact, the aforementioned types of badges are not banned. Hence, the conclusion that there are different ideas and truths.

In the end, what began as just a technical uniform change by Turkish Airlines became something symbolic and sparked public debate as it was seen that it was tied to national identity and politics. While official statements are a place for questions, as there are different perspectives, the controversy is major.

Edited by: Leyla Hacioglu