Turkish labor minister blames system for mine deaths

Labor Minister Faruk Çelik points the finger at 'the system' for repeated mining deaths while refusing to resign over the Ermenek disaster Labor Minister Faruk Çelik has admitted that there are systemic flaws in Turkey’s mining sector, as his government continues to be criticized for mistakes leading to yet another mine tragedy that left 18 workers missing in the Central Anatolian province of Karaman.

Those responsible for the tragedy in Ermenek, the small town in Karaman where desperate efforts are ongoing to reach 18 workers trapped 375 meters underground at a mine that filled with water on Oct. 28, should be brought to trial, along with those responsible for Turkey’s largest ever industrial disaster that led to the loss of 301 miners in the town of Soma in May, Çelik said.

“As the ministry, we have launched an administrative investigation,” he told daily Hürriyet on Nov. 5, while noting that the investigation into two inspectors who visited the mine in Soma at the time was about to be completed and would be made public soon.

“We should handle the issue in its entirety; this is not how the media is handling the issue. Let’s investigate what is wrong here. Our inspections are conducted without an earlier notification,” Çelik said.

Although the labor policies of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, in power since November 2002, have come under the spotlight with the recent deaths, the minister maintained that the problem was the use of old-style techniques in the mining sector.

“We should end this. I’m saying it openly, you should make this your front page story: This structure produces accidents,” Çelik said.

“The real problem is what...