Turkey’s mining sector has mounted a sharp defence of its operations and economic contribution after a senior opposition Republican People’s Party lawmaker made a series of allegations against the industry, accusing it of paying insufficient royalties to the state, smuggling gold by helicopter and using cyanide in ways that Europe has supposedly abandoned.
The Mining Platform, an umbrella body of 18 non-governmental organisations, and the Turkish Miners Association jointly issued statements on Saturday rejecting the claims made by Gökhan Günaydın, deputy parliamentary group chair of the CHP, as factually incorrect and politically damaging to an industry employing approximately 150,000 people.
On royalties, the Mining Platform said the sector paid more than 32 billion Turkish lira ($700 million) to the public treasury in state royalties last year alone. “A false perception is being created that mining enterprises pay very low shares to the state,” the statement said, adding that approximately 30 lira out of every 100 lira earned by a mining enterprise flows directly to the state through various taxes and levies.
The Miners Association directly challenged the gold smuggling allegation, calling it incompatible with current production and inspection processes. It noted that mining activities operate under the supervision of more than 30 public institutions, and that every gram of gold produced must first be refined to 99.5% purity at accredited domestic refineries before being offered for sale on Borsa Istanbul, where the Central Bank of Turkey holds the right of first purchase.
On the cyanide claim, the association said the assertion that EU countries have abandoned the method was simply untrue. It pointed out that 85% of gold produced worldwide uses the cyanide process and that modern gold facilities operating in Finland, Sweden and Norway employ it — countries the CHP implicitly held up as models.
Both organisations framed the broader stakes as economic sovereignty. “We are sending more than $60 billion in total resources abroad because we are not adequately utilising the mines within our own territory,” the Mining Platform said.
