Miners’ hunger strike enters second week in Ankara

ANKARA

A hunger strike by Doruk Mining workers protesting months of unpaid wages and alleged rights violations entered its second week on April 27 in Ankara, where authorities blocked an attempted march to the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry.

The protest began after workers set out from nearby Eskişehir on April 13, reaching the capital on April 20, where tensions escalated as authorities halted another planned march. Some union leaders were detained, and remaining workers launched a sit-in and hunger strike. On April 21, the union said 110 participating workers were briefly detained and released the next day.

On April 25, the Labor and Social Security Ministry said Doruk Mining had been fined more than 23 million Turkish Liras ($510,000) in administrative penalties. The ministry also said the company had deposited some outstanding wages, though the Independent Mine Workers Union described the payments as negligible.

Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar met April 22 with Turkish Mine Workers Union leader Nurettin Akçul and a delegation of workers. In a social media post, Bayraktar said talks were continuing to resolve the dispute.