One of the most critical factors determining the future of this country is its economic resilience, because when the economy weakens, the weight of the state also diminishes. When we look at the last period of the Ottoman Empire, we see one of the most prominent examples of this: The long-term mining concessions granted to foreign companies were so far-reaching that they had a say in many matters, from where they would dig to what they would pay to the state. The land was ours, but the rule was in the hands of others. This was precisely the reason behind Atatürk's radical change of this system in 1926.
With the establishment of Etibank and MTA in 1935, Turkey put its underground riches on a scientific and national basis. At that time, mines were not seen as a short-term source of income, but as strategic elements that strengthened the country's independence. This determination was the most concrete indication of the young Republic's will to stand on its own feet.
There was poverty, but what determined the direction of the country was an anti-imperialist line of independence; the issue was who was left open to the direction of sovereignty.
In the following years, this line gradually loosened. In the 1950s, foreign companies returned to the field and it became unclear who was even in control. The real break came after 1980: Laws were changed, Etibank was privatized, and licensing processes were accelerated. Long-term planning was pushed back, and mining was gradually handed over to day-to-day license decisions.
Bugün tablo oldukça açık: Ruhsat sayısı son yirmi yılda beş kat artmış durumda. İlk bakışta kalkınma hamlesi gibi görünse de aslında planlama eksikliğinin işareti. Devlet payının dünya ortalamasının altında tutulması da bu tabloyu ağırlaştırıyor. Altın için bizde %2–4 olan devlet payı Kanada’da %11–16. Aradaki fark bu kadar büyükken “Biz kendi değerimizi neden bu kadar düşükten veriyoruz?” sorusu kendiliğinden ortaya çıkıyor.
The figures make the situation even clearer: Turkey's annual mining revenue is $11.5 billion, of which only $2 billion goes back to the public sector. Gold production dropped from 42 tons in 2020 to 31.4 tons in 2023. Even as production decreases, the fact that most of the enterprises are foreign-owned shows that a significant portion of the value obtained from the mine flows out of the country. Forest areas are one of the fastest disappearing assets. In the last decade, an area five times the size of forests has been licensed; fifteen thousand hectares of forests were opened to mining in 2023 alone. This is the most concrete example of how a country can have so many resources and still be impoverished.
The problem is not in the source; it is in the way it is managed
Our potential is high, but the current policy does not demonstrate a will to turn this potential in favor of the country.
Turkey's low income from mining is not a coincidence; it is the natural result of the preferences adopted for years.
As long as this view does not change, it is not realistic to expect the results to change.
Once a symbol of sovereignty, mines today have lost their strategic value and have been reduced to licenses. When a country's policies leave the value generated by its own resources in other hands, this results in an erosion of the country's strategic independence.
Ataturk's era, both the top and the bottom of the soil were the honor of the nation. Today, we are in a low-income, high-cost and foreign-dominated system. This is no longer just a mining debate; it is a mirror of whether this country can manage its own destiny. And when I look into that mirror, I can only think of one sentence: It must not go on like this.