page_title: Coal in Turkey
section_title: Mining and industry
hierarchical_section_title: Coal in Turkey / History / Mining and industry
caption_attribution_description: English: An old fashion coal stove exhibited in Arıkan House. Kozan - Adana, Turkey.Türkçe: Arıkan Konağı'nda sergilenen bir eski usül kömür sobası. Kozan - Adana, Türkiye.
context_page_description: Coal supplies over a quarter of Turkey's primary energy. The heavily subsidised coal industry generates over a third of the country's electricity and emits a third of Turkey's greenhouse gases. Every year, thousands of people die prematurely from coal-related causes, the most common of which is local air pollution.
  Most coal mined in Turkey is lignite, which is more polluting than other types of coal. Turkey's energy policy encourages mining lignite for coal-fired power stations in order to reduce gas imports; and coal supplies over 40% of domestic energy production. Mining peaked in 2018, at over 100 million tonnes, and declined considerably in 2019. In contrast to local lignite production, Turkey imports almost all of the bituminous coal it uses. The largest coalfield in Turkey is Elbistan.
context_section_description: As the Ottoman Navy expanded its steam powered fleet in the 1840s to help defend the Ottoman Empire against the expanding Russian Empire, it became a national priority to find domestic coalfields. There are several apocryphal stories about the discovery of coal on the Black Sea coast in what is now  Zonguldak Province. However, it is certain that the Ereğli Coal Mine Company started production in 1842 and that coal mined in Ereğli and Amasra was used to fuel steamboats.
  In 1848 the Ereğli Coal Basin (now called the Zonguldak Basin) was mapped and claimed by Sultan Abdulmejid I, who later leased it, mainly to foreign merchants. The first customer of Turkey's coal industry was the Ottoman Navy. However, during the Crimean War in the mid-1850s, production was commandeered by the Ottoman Empire's allies, the British Royal Navy, and production increased by importing mining machinery and training Turkish miners. By 1875 the Ottoman Navy had become the third largest in the world and expansion of the mines attracted workers from outside the area, despite the dangerous conditions.
  The first coal-fired power station, Silahtarağa Power Station (now SantralIstanbul culture center) opened in 1914, and after the defeat of the empire in World War I, and the subsequent Turkish War of Independence, the new Republic of Turkey industrialized further as part of Atatürk's reforms. Lignite from Soma supplied the army in WW1 and lignite mining began at several other coalfields in 1927. The Zonguldak coalfield remains the only national source of the hard coal which was historically necessary for steelmaking: its mines were nationalized in 1940. In the mid-20th century the state encouraged the growth of cement and steelmaking in Zonguldak. In the late 20th century many power stations were constructed near lignite fields such as Elbistan coalfield.
  In the early 21st century there was a growing realization of the damage done by coal to public health. However, the Turkish government wished to avoid importing too much natural gas, which was expensive at that time, with supply dominated by Russia. The nascent environmental movement was unable to prevent many more coal-fired power stations being built. After years of struggle by environmentalists flue emissions standards were finally improved at the end of the 2010s, resulting in the closure of a few older plants. As for steelmaking, most plants are now electric arc furnaces.
caption: Antique coke stove exhibited in Arıkan House, Kozan.
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