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About 150 Turkish construction workers in Saudi Arabia's Mecca have been on strike for 60 days, protesting unpaid wages for 11 months and poor working conditions, Turkish media reported.
Mecca, where millions of Muslims visit the Kaaba each year, has become a hub of massive infrastructure projects, including expansions and luxury hotel developments. Many of the projects employ Turkish laborers.
The workers are part of the “Masar 1 – Masar Package B” mega infrastructure project, valued at $26 billion.
The development is being carried out by Saudi Arabian Baytur, financed by Umm Al Qura, with Alinma Bank as the client, according to Turkish media outlet Hurriyet.
The Turkish employees, who have worked on the site since 2022, said they have gone without pay for nearly a year. In a press statement in Mecca, they said repeated promises of delayed payment were broken.
“They told us that if we continued working for a while longer, payments would be made, and as we kept working, our receivables accumulated, but the promises were not kept,” the workers said.
“One of the company officials threatened to cut off our food and electricity if we continued the strike. We want our voices to be heard," the workers added.
The strike, now in its second month, underscores ongoing concerns about the treatment of foreign workers in Saudi Arabia, where large-scale construction has accelerated under the government’s development plans.
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