Tragic suicide of Turkish Airlines ex-employee reveals alleged workplace pressure

A former employee of Turkish Airlines (THY), has tragically taken his own life, citing alleged systematic pressure from his station manager as the reason for his decision.

Omer Koray Ozbay, a long-serving employee of Turkish Ground Services (TGS), the ground handling subsidiary THY committed suicide on Tuesday after alleged systematic pressure from Serkan Gunduz, the station manager at THY.

In a video and a four-page farewell letter shared on his social media account prior to his suicide, Ozbay expressed his grievances. Hours later, his friends reported receiving the news of his death.

In his note Ozbay wrote, "Dear friends, I have ended my life. Today, I am writing to you from a point where my emotions have completely faded away, and I feel lost. I felt like a warrior, I tried everything and did everything within my power. However, during this process, I lost my emotions. Although there is still a glimmer of hope somewhere within me, the pain and disappointment of constantly facing defeats overwhelmed me. As someone who is ambitious, I tried multiple times and succeeded in various ways. But for the past three years, I have been unable to achieve the success I desired. Accepting defeat has been incredibly difficult for me."

Ozbay's emotional distress during his time in the company was evident in his words . He expressed exhaustion from manual labor and the struggle of starting from scratch due to the actions of others.

"I was threatened and left unemployed," Ozbay continued.

"With each step, I became less of myself. I was forced to engage in dirty work. Despite all the obstacles, I managed to overcome them. During this time, I accumulated a great longing because I couldn't see the people I loved. As years passed, this longing deepened, and I think I lost my connection with my friends. Because I lost myself. It was difficult to carry the emotional burden in my heart, so I built a wall around me. I didn't want to explain my state."

Ozbay said he felt like he has been used as a tool:

“Despite all my efforts, I faced failure, and now I am broken. I am lost in an emotional abyss. There is no glimmer of hope left within me. Under this heavy burden, I am emotionally exhausted. I only feel emptiness within my inner world. I have no chance left. I am tired of doing manual labor to earn money. I am tired of starting everything from scratch. I can't bear having everything taken away from me and constantly being humiliated by these people."