Reyhanlı blast ripples affect auto industry

Emre Özpeynirci ISTANBUL / Hürriyet

Last year’s Auto News event, which took place in Monaco, is seen. Company photo

The Automotive News is shifting its 16th International Automotive Congress next month from Istanbul to Paris due to the deadly May 11 Reyhanlı attack, as well as due to continuing problems at the Turkish-Syrian border.

“Americans especially see Turkey as risky right now. As the Automotive News representatives, we said Istanbul is far away from the risky regions to the target population of the congress, who are the C-levels of almost all automotive companies, but we could not succeed in persuading them,” Luca Ciferri, Automotive News Europe Director, said in Paris.

Ciferri said Americans specifically did not know much about geography, noting that they were adverse to taking even the “slightest risk.”

Top-level executives from over 100 automotive companies had been set to come to Istanbul to enrich their networks, speak about the latest developments and and learn about the latest regulations in the Turkish auto industry.

Two car bombs in the southern province of Hatay’s Reyhanlı district killed at least 51 people on May 11.