site.btaTurkish Miners Go on Hunger Strike in Ankara Over Unpaid Wages

Turkish miners have once again launched a hunger strike in Ankara to demand their overdue wages, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Monday. For a week, the miners, who arrived from the neighboring province of Eskisehir, where they work at a lignite coal mine supplying a thermal power plant, have unsuccessfully sought a meeting at the Ministry of Energy.

On Monday, the eighth day of their hunger strike, they were again blocked in a park and dispersed with tear gas. Two members of the Independent Mining Workers Union, including its President Gokay Cakir, were arrested, the organization said on its account on the social network X. 

The workers eventually lay down on the asphalt next to their helmets bearing the slogan “Fight for bread.” They have not been paid for six months. The group arrived in Ankara on April 20 after walking 180 kilometers over nine days to protest.

According to the union, the company that took over the mine and the power plant in 2022 has laid off or put hundreds of employees on unpaid leave, while unpaid wages and compensation have accumulated without resolution. The situation has sparked strong public outrage in Turkiye, where coal accounts for about one-third of electricity production, according to the Ministry of Energy. 

The miners’ cause has also drawn sympathy because they assisted in rescue efforts in the region hardest hit by the 2023 earthquake, AFP noted.