Managing director Akin Koc said the company ceased trading yesterday, Friday July 1, with about 1,200 customers affected after 26 years in business.
He added the company had been under pressure in recent years thanks to political problems while increasingly deadly terrorist attacks, most recently this week at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport where 44 people were killed, have put the public off travelling to the destination.
Koc said a strategy of diversification into destinations such as Croatia did not drum up enough business to account for the loss of the Turkey trade.
He added: “It has become impossible to cope and sustain the business particularly through recent attacks.”
Koc said the decision was made to pull the plug on the company to avoid further disruption to customers and said the operator’s staff were now working to minimise disruption to all involved.
He also thanked everyone in the industry, both in the UK and in Turkey and its other destinations, for all their support over the years.
The statement in full read:
“We are very sad to announce that Anatolian Sky has ceased trading on 1 July 2016. We have served our clients and agents with passion and enthusiasm for the past 26 years. We loved what we were doing and more than anything we loved the wonderful country of Turkey and all the other countries and products we offered.
“We have been under pressure since the regional political problems started in the past few years and intensified last year and this year. Turkey has been under attack by regional terrorism and by global powers. Every new attack has had a devastating effect on the company. We tried to divert the business to some new destinations to make up for the lost business from Turkey, but it was not enough to replace it. It has become impossible to cope and sustain the business particularly through recent attacks.
“We had to take this sad decision yesterday to avoid any further disruption and uncertainty to our clients for their holidays. We are still working as a whole team to make sure all our clients in the resorts and immediate clients due to depart will carry on enjoying their holidays with the minimum of disruption. We can only apologise to our clients and agents for the disruption and inconvenience it may cause.
“I would like to thank to all our loyal clients. We have enjoyed serving you over so many years. Also thanks to all of you great agents with whom we have enjoyed working for over 20 years. Finally I would like to thank our great team in the UK and overseas who stand together and fight with me till the end. I am most grateful. I would also like to thank all my fellow colleagues in the industry for the support and kind messages they have sent. I am very grateful to them too.
“Finally we couldn’t enjoy serving all these clients and agents without great hoteliers, gulet and boat owners and incoming agencies. They always served our clients with great enthusiasm and expertise. I cannot thank them enough. How sad I am not to be able to support them anymore! I can only apologise to them for the inconvenience and have shared the difficulties and the pains they are going through. I know what difficult times they are having and that they don’t deserve all this.
“I appeal to the travel industry not to isolate Turkey but to carry on supporting it. I also appeal to the UK media to stop publishing scare-mongering news stories - the only people you are helping to win are the terrorists.”
Akin Koc
Managing director
Anatolian Sky
