Aviation journalist Ali Kıdık says he received an email from Turkish Airlines telling him he has been put on a blacklist because of his writing. The airline applied its “Safe Travel Passenger Tracking System” and imposed the ban for six months, through July 12, 2026.
Kıdık had reported that the airline was updating its uniform and appearance guidelines, and that Turkish flag pins would no longer be worn by cabin crew.
Tarihe not düşüyorum…
Türk Hava Yolları’ndan bu sabah, “kara listeye alındığınıza dair” bir e-posta aldım.
Gerekçe olarak paylaşımlarım gösteriliyor.
Bunun bendeki karşılığı şudur: yazma, konuşma, yorumlama, görme, duyma.
Buradan sormak istiyorum:
THY sizin şahsi şirketiniz… pic.twitter.com/cI13CO03Ti— Ali KIDIK (@alikdk) January 12, 2026
He was also previously Deputy Group Leader of the İyi (‘Good’) Party in the Istanbul city council – a center-right nationalist party that opposes Erdoğan’s aggrandizement of power. So that may have also been a motivation for the ban, given the excuse.
Turkish Airlines policy includes a passenger ‘diminishing brand value’ as justification for a ban. And their General Conditions of Carriage say production and dissemination of “content that is detrimental to the brand value or reputation of the Carrier” warrants a refusal to transport the customer. The airline applies its contract of carriage to media statements, not just onboard misconduct.
Turkish social media generally sees this in three buckets.
- Censorship, intimidation, and the airline’s thin skin.
- The journalist must have done something pretty bad.
- The airline should punish misinformation.
U.S. airlines don’t do this, fortunately, or I’d probably only be allowed on board Alaska and Sun Country. However, it’s common to Turkey – low cost carrier SunExpress says they’ll refuse travel to anyone who “undermines SunExpress’ brand value through any media outlet…”
Aeroflot, meanwhile, has been known to revoke status from journalists who criticize the airline. And US Airways did ban a journalist although it apparently wasn’t really for criticizing the airline as the man had claimed, but for his abusive behavior toward employees.
I guess by writing about this, I may not be able to redeem miles for travel on Turkish Airlines going forward.
To share a premium flight with like-minded thought-leaders, consider Delta.
Newsflash: Free speech is not allowed in most of this world.
As the saying goes, “Actions have Consequences.”
Well, I last flew Аэрофлот in 1968, and have no plans to in the future, so I think I’m safe there. As for Turkish Airlines — “thin skin” is right, and I won’t be flying them anytime soon, either. They may fly to more places than any other airline, but there are still alternatives available. Who says I have to fly to Istanbul to go to Palermo?
Good riddance, Gary. You don’t need to route through Istanbul anyway. You aren’t Mayor Adams.
The Turkish government owns 50% of Turkish Airlines. This is political censorship. Turkey under Erdogan is not a ‘free’ country (and seems like they’ve all but given up on joining the EU). Turkey continues to play both sides between East and West these days (even though they are technically a NATO member). Release İmamoğlu; hold free and fair elections. Recognize the genocide against Armenians and Greeks in the 1910s and 1920s.
@Matt — Thank you for your service!
@George Romey — Which is why we should defend it at home
@Denver Refugee — Horrible take.
Oh, it wasn’t Josh Cahill again.
As much as I disagree with the ban, I respect the airline for stating the reason for the ban.
Compare this to US banks deplatforming people on the right (or perceived to be on the right). The customer would receive a letter saying “you have violated our policies, your account has been terminated.” No warning, no detailed explanation or example as to what the customer has done.
For examples, lookup ‘Kansas Attorney General letter to Bank of America’ or ‘Sam Brownback’s National Committee for Religious Freedom deplatformed by Chase.’
@1990 – “Horrible take.” Never said it wasn’t. And not unique to Türkiye (see, for instance, the facial-recognition scanners at MSG properties and the associated drama there).
@Denver Refugee — If you’re speaking English on here, and I think you are, it’s still “Turkey”…Erdogan can try to rename his own country in another language as a loyalty/litmus test, but I’m not gonna sit back and take that while I’m in NYC, safely away from those goons.
@Disgruntled American — People right, left, center get banned all the time, often for silly reasons. It’s not just people on the right being de-banked. At least in the US we have mechanisms to appeal and contest such bans, whether it be airlines or banks, through the courts, etc. In Turkey, like other authoritarian regimes, if you defy the leader/party in-power, you get locked up, no appeal (see Istanbul’s mayor). Now, for the most part, that is not happening here, yet (though, #47, more so than anyone else before him, would like to copy Erdogan, Putin, Xi, etc.) Even if you are conservative, you should not be in-favor of any of that nonsense here, even if you think you’re in the in-group for now.
Well, these comments went about as I expected.
I was most struck by the phrase “content that is detrimental to the brand value or reputation of the Carrier.” Oh, the parallels. As it relates to TK:
1. Not my country, none of my (or any non-Turk’s) business unless it’s a humanitarian issue.
2. Businesses can refuse service to anyone, for any reason. I have no interest in conducting business with someone I am morally opposed to any more than some pastry chef in Colorado doesn’t want to sell me a wedding cake.
3. There a lot of people who probably should be banned from airlines for tarnishing the brand of the Carrier. I’m talking to you with your camel toe and boobs popping out…get off my lawn!
@1990 – It’s their country, they can call it whatever they want. Or do we need to start calling Istanbul “Constantinople” again?
I refuse to give a penny to any ME3 or nearby airline.
@Denver Refugee — And it’s our language. We don’t call Greece by Hellas because that’s in Greek. Turkey is Turkey in English. Erdogan literally changed the name to weaponize it against opponents. Recall how Putin will arrest his own citizens for calling his war a ‘war’ demanding it be called a ‘special military operation’ when it is most certainly a three year long war. You know better.