Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi has intervened in the case of miners in the capital Ankara who have been on a hunger strike for two weeks over unpaid wages, urging the company owner to pay the outstanding salaries immediately, local media reported on April 28.
The dispute involves workers at Doruk Mining, where approximately 110 employees have been protesting months of unpaid salaries and alleged violations of labor rights.
The protest, which entered its second week on April 27, also saw brief detentions.
According to daily Hürriyet, the interior minister contacted the owner of Yıldızlar SSS Holding, Sabahattin Yıldız, by phone in an effort to end the hunger strike.
Doruk Mining is a subsidiary of Yıldızlar SSS, which took over the mine and the adjacent power plant it supplies in 2022.
During the call, Çiftçi reportedly urged the businessman to immediately settle the outstanding wages and received an assurance that payments would begin as of the morning of April 28. However, unions stated later that day that the salaries had still not been paid.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar previously made a visit to Çiftçi, during which the miners’ situation was also discussed, the daily said.
Çiftçi noted that Bayraktar was actively engaged in efforts to resolve the crisis, stating that the energy minister already held prior talks with company representatives, contributing significantly to the ongoing process.
On April 22, Bayraktar met with Turkish Mine Workers Union leader Nurettin Akçul and a delegation of workers.
On April 25, the Labor and Social Security Ministry also announced that Doruk Mining was fined over 23 million Turkish Liras (approximately $510,000) in administrative penalties.
The ministry also stated that the company had partially paid some outstanding wages, although the Independent Mine Workers’ Union described these payments as largely symbolic and insufficient.
The protest began on April 13, when workers set off from the central province of Eskişehir toward Ankara, arriving in the capital on April 20.
Tensions escalated after authorities halted a planned march, prompting union leaders to be detained briefly and the remaining workers to initiate a sit-in and subsequent hunger strike. On April 21, the union reported that 110 participating workers had been temporarily detained and released the following day.
