1. TURKISH MINE FIRE
Shannon Yu

2. SOMA, TURKEY

3. BACKGROUND
 GOVERNMENT
 Republic
 PRESIDENT Abdullah Gul
 PRIME MINISTER Recep Tayyip Erdogan
 Islamist party which has held power for a decade

4. BACKGROUND
 MINING
 Turkey one of most dangerous places to work
as miner
 Previously state-run mining industry is
currently privatized

5. THE MINING DISASTER
 May 13th: deadly fire erupts in mine
 ~800 miners trapped
 May 14th: Prime Minister Erdogan’s visit to Soma
 May 17th: final death toll of 301
 Worst mining disaster in Turkey’s history

6. THE MINES
 Many miners reported lax
inspection
 No escape procedures
 No safety chambers
 Miners were on their own
 Some oxygen sensors were not
operational
 Signs ignored
 Gas sensors that detected high
levels of toxic gas 2 days before
 Hot coal taken out
 Production continued
 Many gas masks did not work

7. THE MINES

8. GRIEF TO ANGER
 Prime Minister Erdogan labeled event as ordinary in
industry
 Compared to disasters in 1800s Britain
 Aide kicks protestor

9. GRIEF TO ANGER
 Protests
 Thousands go on strike
 May 16th: police used rubber bullets, tear gas, and
water cannons to shut down protests
 Soma: demanded Prime Minister Erdogan’s resignation

10. ARRESTS
 Mine officials and others finally given responsibility
 May 18th: 25 detained and questioned
 4 arrested:
 Soma Coal Mining Company operating manager Akin Celik
 engineer Yalcin Erdogan
 engineer Ertan Ersoy
 security chief
Yasin Kurnaz

11. FUTURE IMPLICATIONS
 Change in government
 Revolution?
 Worldwide movement for better safety measures
and regulations for mining
 Rise in energy prices

12. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING