TK safety record
Much has been made of TK's safety record down through the years and it is true that, at first glance, its safety record is not stellar. However, in fairness to TK, it should be pointed out that Turkish Airlines is one of the world's fastest growing carriers; over the past three years alone, its growth in pax numbers has been significant:
2006 17m
2007 19.7m
2008 22.5m - a growth of around a third in two years.
Recent years, prior to 2005, have seen significant growth as well. Taking at face value a statement, made in the media, that TK has one of the worst safety record in Europe ignores the fact that the TK of the 70s and 80s is a much different airline than the TK of today, flying a much smaller fleet and far fewer pax. A far fairer comparison, I think, is to look at how the strong growth in the past few years has been managed.