İlayda Sorku
The story of gold mining in Türkiye has gone far beyond the single mine that began operations in Ovacık, Bergama, in 2001. Over the past 25 years, with the granting of licences, legislative changes and the opening up of new areas to companies, gold mining has spread across the country. From İzmir to Erzincan, from Uşak to Kayseri, and from Balıkesir to Gümüşhane, agricultural land, pastures, forests and water basins in dozens of regions have become targets for mining activities. Whilst Türkiye faced the climate crisis, drought, food security concerns and pressure on water resources, new areas continued to be opened up to the invasion of domestic and international mining monopolies.
Throughout the AKP’s reign, the mining sector was specifically supported under the banners of ‘development’ and ‘investment’. Licensing processes were streamlined, and administrative barriers facing companies were removed. The latest regulation, introduced in July 2025, has further accelerated this process. Last year, the number of licences issued rose to 410,000. According to MAPEG data, 28.21 tonnes of gold were produced in Türkiye in 2025. Today, production is ongoing at 22 separate gold mines across the country.
However, it is not just gold production that has been growing. For years, gold mining has been in the spotlight due to the use of cyanide, high water consumption, its impact on agricultural production, environmental destruction and workplace fatalities. From Bergama to Fatsa, and from the Kazdağları to İliç, citizens in many regions are continuing their struggle against companies to protect their living spaces.
Despite all the objections raised by environmental activists, two further projects are now set to be added to this map. The Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change has launched the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process for two separate gold mine projects planned in Eskişehir and Nevşehir. Both projects are planned in areas containing agricultural land, pastures and water sources.
RIGHT NEXT TO THE PORSUK
The Esence Gold and Silver Mine and Crushing and Screening Plant Project, planned in the vicinity of the Esence and Uyuzhamamköyü neighbourhoods in the Alpu district of Eskişehir, is one of the latest examples of this.
The project, prepared by Taşzemin Madencilik, is planned for an area of approximately 659 hectares. Over a period of eight years, the company will extract 8.1 million tonnes of ore using the blasting open-pit method. The extracted ore will then be transported to the Kaymaz Gold Mine operated by Türk Altın İşletmeleri (formerly Koza Altın) in Sivrihisar. The area where the project is planned consists of pastureland and agricultural land. An open-cast mine is to be established in an area defined in the environmental master plan as a ‘zone where agricultural character is to be preserved’.
Furthermore, the Porsuk Stream, one of the region’s most important water sources, lies just a few hundred metres from the project site. The İğneli, Mekkeboğazı, İrdikaya, Karaağaç and Böğürtlen streams also lie within the project area. Furthermore, the nearest residential area in Esence Mahallesi is just 30 metres from the mining site. The company plans to carry out 60 blasting operations per year using ammonium nitrate and dynamite as part of the project it wishes to implement.
THE COURT HAD HALTED THE PROJECT
The project had previously come to the fore after the court ordered a ‘halt’. In 2019, the decision that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was not required for the project was overturned by the Eskişehir 2nd Administrative Court and subsequently by the Council of State. Expert reports had indicated that the project’s impacts would not be limited to the licensed area alone, that it would increase pressure on the Alpu Plain—which has high agricultural productivity—and that environmental safeguards were inadequate.
DRIVEN FROM THE MOUNTAIN MEADOW
Furthermore, it was noted that the owner of the project, for which the EIA process had been initiated in Eskişehir, was a familiar figure. Taşzemin Mining had previously made headlines for its activities in the Perşembe Mountain Meadow in Ordu. Local residents had fought for months against the company’s drilling operations; citizens, who argued that the highland, water sources and meanders would be damaged, had forced the company to leave the site. Following a legal battle, the Ordu Administrative Court had revoked the permits granted. However, with the lifting of the suspension order in recent days, the obstacles facing the company have once again been removed.
WITHIN THE VILLAGE
In the project planned by Uzal Madencilik in Nevşehir, the total licensed area exceeded 1,460 hectares. Planned within the boundaries of Doğala Village, which is part of the Derinkuyu district, and covering forest, agricultural and pasture land, the project aimed to excavate 210,000 tonnes annually. A notable point in the dossier, however, was the contradictions regarding the leaching method.
Whilst the main report stated that no leaching or chemical processing would take place, the annexes to the dossier indicated that the ore would be enriched using a ‘tank leaching process’ to produce doré gold.
THE MAP HAS EXPANDED
Industrial gold production in Türkiye began in 2001 at Bergama Ovacık. The struggle waged by the villagers of Bergama for many years went down in history as one of the most significant examples of social resistance against gold mining. However, the government cleared the way for companies, and gold mining has spread to new regions with each passing year. Today, gold production continues at 22 separate sites, stretching from İzmir to Uşak, from Çanakkale to Kayseri, and from Balıkesir to Gümüşhane.
WHO IS PAYING THE PRICE?
Gold mining is not defined solely by production figures. In Uşak’s Kışladağ, it is on record that approximately 1,500 people were poisoned following cyanide-based production in the region. The Kelkit Basin has been under threat for years due to the Mastra Gold Mine in Gümüşhane. In many regions, from İzmir to Ordu, villagers are fighting against companies to protect their water sources and agricultural land.
The disaster in İliç, Erzincan, is one of the most severe consequences of unregulated mining in the country. Following the disaster at the Çöpler Gold Mine, in which nine workers lost their lives after being trapped under a heap leach pile, production was halted; however, efforts to reopen the mine site for production began in recent days. It has been reported that Cengiz Holding, which took over the operation from the Canadian firm SSR, has submitted an official application to restart gold production.
Over the 25-year period stretching from Bergama to İliç, whilst gold companies have spread across the country, they have left behind cyanide, environmental destruction, workplace fatalities and the people’s struggle to defend their living spaces.
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THE GOLD BARONS
Although gold production in Türkiye takes place at numerous sites, the sector is largely controlled by a handful of corporate groups. Some of these companies are listed below:
• Türk Altın İşletmeleri (formerly Koza Altın):
It is one of the sector’s most widespread companies, operating the Ovacık, Çukuralan, Mastra, Kaymaz, Himmetdede, Kaşköy and Karamolla sites.
• TÜPRAG
Operates the Kışladağ and Efemçukuru mines.
• TÜMAD
Owner of the Lapseki and İvrindi gold mines.
• Artmin Mining
The company operating the Artvin Hod project has also come to public attention as one of the partners in the Çöpler Gold Mine in İliç.
Canadian-based Centerra Gold, US-based SSR Mining – known for the İliç disaster – Demir Export (a subsidiary of Koç Holding), Esan (a subsidiary of Eczacıbaşı Holding) and Yıldızlar Holding are also among the sector’s key players.
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DANGER JUST AROUND THE CORNER
In addition to the gold mining sites currently in operation, numerous projects are also awaiting their turn. Some of the projects opposed by environmental activists, who warn that “new disasters are on the horizon”, include the following:
• Eti Bakır, a subsidiary of Cengiz Holding, has received approval from the Ministry for its cyanide-based gold and silver mining project in Eskişehir’s Tepebaşı district, encompassing the villages of Atalan and Alpagut in the Mihalgazi district. Resistance continues against the project, which threatens the felling of 57,000 trees.
• Cengiz Holding is also continuing its efforts to restart production at the Çöpler Gold Mine in İliç, which has become a graveyard for workers.
• An expert inspection is scheduled for 30 June as part of the legal proceedings against the gold mine project by Defaş Madencilik – a joint venture between Demir Export, a subsidiary of Koç Holding, and Fernas İnşaat, owned by AKP Batman MP Ferhat Nasıroğlu – which is set to deplete Kırşehir’s water supply.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Talanın altın çağı published in BirGün newspaper on June 20, 2026.
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