Portraits Of Turkish Coal Miners

ZONGULDAK, TURKEY - APRIL 05: Coal miner, Hakan, poses for a portrait on his night shift break at a small mine on April 5, 2017 in Zonguldak, Turkey. More than 300 kilometers of coal mineÕs riddle the mountains of Zonguldak. The coal-mining city in the Black sea region of Turkey was established in 1849 as a port city and mining hub. However the province with a population of more than 500,000 is facing an uncertain future. As the coal mining industry globally sees a steady decline, Zonguldak and surrounding towns are also at a cross roads with coal miner numbers dwindling from some 60,000 in peak years to now just over 6000 working in the city. Steady population decline, Turkeys current economic crisis, cheap coal imports from Columbia and Russia, as well as a series of mining disasters, such as the 2014, Soma mine fire, which forced parliament to adopt a new code to improve safety conditions, which raised some mine operating costs by 50 percent, have all contributed to a decline in profit and have pushed many mining companies into financial difficulty. However with TurkeyÕs Minster of Energy and Natural resources pushing new policies focusing on domestic resources and reducing TurkeyÕs energy import dependence, many companies and miners hope that they will see a revitalized industry in coming years. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)