Scores of miners detained while protesting unpaid wages outside Turkey’s energy ministry

Miners from silver producer Eti Gümüş and coal-mining company Doruk Mining were detained in Ankara on Monday while protesting unpaid wages, severance claims and unpaid leave outside Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Ministry, the Bianet news website reported. Eti Gümüş ve Doruk madencilik işçileri olarak tutulmayan sözlerin peşinden Ankara'ya, sorumlu Enerji Bakanlığı önünde gözaltına alındık. The union says around 400 current and former workers at Doruk Mining and the Yunus Emre Thermal Power Plant have reported unpaid wages, severance claims, unpaid leave or other outstanding entitlements. Doruk Mining workers staged a similar protest in April, marching from Mihalıççık to Ankara over unpaid wages, severance and other employment rights before launching a hunger strike. During the dispute Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar sharply criticized Doruk Mining, saying the company had made not paying its workers “a habit.”