Turkey: Strikes Initiated Against Dire Workplace Conditions

Featured image: İSİG Council statistics on work related deaths in Turkey. Source: Yeni Demokrasi

During the first eight months of 2026, at least 1,509 workers lost their lives in workplace accidents in Turkey – 226 of them in August, including 15 child laborers – Yeni Demokrasi reports.

Using statistics from İSİG Council, Yeni Demokrasi explains that most of the workplace accidents this August occurred in the construction- and agriculture sectors, with as much as 9 deaths in the construction sector in one day on August 12.

As a result of the dire working conditions in Turkey, strikes have also been launched. Workers at Nesko Mining and Rasih and İhsan Mining, both subsidiaries of Yıldızlar SSS Holding, have gone on strike due to unpaid wages, Yeni Demokrasi reports. Yeni Demokrasi also reports that, in Aliağa district of İzmir, workers at the Smart Solar Technologies factory stopped production after 7 workers were dismissed on the grounds of “department redundancy.”