When André Ventura said in Parliament that the new airport in Alcochete should be ready in a few years, he cited the example of Istanbul airport: 5 years until it was inaugurated - in fact it took 3.5 years from the start of construction to the inauguration.
First of all, that's not the case. The airport actually opened in 2018, but incomplete. It is still being expanded today, with the aim of reaching 200 million passengers a year.
Secondly, you only have to listen to Minister Miguel Pinto Luz's response to Ventura himself: "Turkey is another regime, another way of being, it doesn't belong to the European Union...".
400 dead
In Turkey, when Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (or someone close to his government) says it has to be done, it has to be done.
Even if the safety conditions for those who work there are not respected.
The government won't admit it, but various estimates - from newspapers and organizations - point to more than 400 deaths. And it's likely to rise, as construction continues. The government puts the death toll at 55 (which isn't very many).
A joint investigation by Construction News and Architects Journal talks about the "cemetery" that the airport has become, and the "human cost" surrounding this construction.
There are shares of workers who felt in mortal danger while working but "slowing down was not an option". If you didn't follow orders, you'd be fired - and you had to "support your family".
Zak Garner-Purkis
There are reports of workers being crushed, of imminent (or confirmed) death on the roof, of safety issues not being complied with, of a lack of health and safety training - workers would sign forms to pretend they had received training. They were fake. When someone died or was injured, they were promised training, which never happened.
Up on the roof, when the frightened workers made a suggestion to be safer, they heard the boss's reply: "Don't complain!".
And there is a strong phrase in the investigation: "We are not slaves".
Even before the inauguration, the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, in addition to mentioning the more than 400 deaths during construction (an average of 3 to 4 a week), pointed out that the relatives of the dead were paid to keep quiet about the matter.
A few weeks before the inauguration, the workers organized stronger protests. They complained about poor conditions, sleeping in "dormitories full of vermin", being trapped inside during holidays and unpaid wages.
Reports?
The Journo focuses on another aspect: the environmental warnings that were ignored by the government.
An area along the Black Sea coast, covered in woods, lakes and coastal dunes, was devastated because of the works.
"Large parts of Istanbul have run out of oxygen," warned activist Başar Toros.
Fırat Fıstık
In 2013, the Environmental Impact Assessment warned that 2.5 million trees would be destroyed or removed - the government said that the exact number of trees destroyed would only be revealed when the airport was ready.
Turkey is "another regime", as Pinto Luz said. Nuray Çolak, from Istanbul's urban planning, said that in Turkey "construction companies can easily get a permit from the Regional Forestry Directorate in any region they want".
"Nobody knows how many licenses have been issued or how much of the forest has been destroyed," he warned.
