Interview with Mahir Ulutaş: The labour market created by this flawed system is at a standstill

Özge Güneş

In Turkey, mining policies have long been debated in terms of their economic contribution, employment and development. However, the ecological destruction caused by mining investments, occupational safety issues and low added value are reigniting the debate.

We spoke with Mahir Ulutaş about mining's real share in the economy, the results of privatisation policies, and the new dependency relationships taking shape under the name of ‘green transformation’.

While mining investments are often legitimised as a source of employment at the local level, we see that their share of GDP does not exceed 1%. Who bene