Miners Extend Protest to 24 Hours: 'We Won't Leave Without Our Rights'

Miners protesting for their rights have escalated their demonstration outside the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, vowing to remain there 24 hours a day.

The miners, members of the Independent Miners' Union, have been protesting for eight days. Their demands to meet with Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar have gone unanswered, leading to growing frustration.

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From now on, we, the workers and the union, will be here 24 hours a day.

In a show of defiance, the workers struck their helmets against the ministry's door, an act that reportedly resulted in a broken door part. The union's general president, Gökay Çakır, stated that they have been wrongly accused of causing damage and that they even called a welder to fix it, but ministry security prevented the work.

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We do not want to harm anywhere. We are not people who will cause damage. We are just people seeking our rights.

Çakır announced the shift to a 24-hour protest, stating, "From now on, we, the workers and the union, will be here 24 hours a day." He urged the public, trade unions, and political parties to visit and support the miners, emphasizing that their struggle is for the future of all workers and the vulnerable in Turkey.

"We do not want to harm anywhere. We are not people who will cause damage. We are just people seeking our rights," Çakır said, asserting that the workers are fighting for their "sweat and toil," which represents the future of their children and grandchildren. He criticized Minister Bayraktar for not meeting with the workers directly, suggesting that even if he wouldn't meet the union, he should at least meet with the miners themselves.

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This sweat and toil is the future of their children, their grandchildren.