The discovery of first coal reserves in Ottoman Empire dates back to 1731, when lignite reserves were discovered in Sarajevo by Humbarac\u0131 Ahmet Pasha (formerly known as Claude Alexandre Comte de Bonneval, before converting to Islam).1<\/sup> Large scale, continuous production of coal, on the other hand, started between 1835 and 1839, in the Ere\u011fli Basin in Zonguldak. Although there are different accounts on who discovered the hard coal reserves in Ere\u011fli (Hac\u0131 \u0130smail or Uzun Mehmet), there is an overwhelming consensus on the reason why coal production started in Ottoman Empire: Improving energy supply security by curbing dependency on coal imports from the UK, in the face of increasing domestic demand triggered by increasing use of steam engines especially by the Ottoman navy.2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ere\u011fli and Zonguldak became the epicenter of hard coal and therefore energy production across the Balkans, Anatolia and Middle East. The control of coal production in Ere\u011fli was a contentious issue among Italy and France during the allied forces\u2019 preparations for the Treaty of Sevres. Turkish Grand National Assembly that was established in 1920 attached importance to coal production in the region, as well. \u201cAmele Kanunu\u201d that was introduced in 1921 in order to improve rights of miners in the region was the first labor law of the Republic of Turkey. Zonguldak, once a borough of Ere\u011fli was upgraded to a district in 1920 and province in 1924. Upon the foundation of the modern Republic of Turkey, utilizing hard coal reserves in Zonguldak received significant attention.3<\/sup> From 1923 until 1967, there has been a steady increase in hard coal production in the region, with the exception of the World War II period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lignite production began in Bal\u0131kesir, in 1899. Although it is reported that lignite had been used for heating purposes for quite a few decades across the Ottoman land, its rise to some prominence started during WWI. As the hard coal production in Ere\u011fli proved insufficient to meet the increased demand in war conditions, lignite production began to be considered as an alternative fuel. Until 1936, Soma, Ergene, Merzifon, De\u011firmisaz and Tav\u015fanl\u0131 were among the important lignite producing regions. After 1936, nationalization of lignite fields began and in 1940, liginite assets were consolidated under Western Lignite Enterprise (Garb Linyitleri \u0130\u015fletme M\u00fcessesesi – GEL\u0130)<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nationalization of lignite assets were actually preceded by the hard coal sector, when the hard coal assets in Zonguldak were transferred to Etibank (Etibank Ere\u011fli Coal Enterprise – EK\u0130TA\u015e) in 1937.4<\/sup> In 1957, Turkish Coal Enterprise (TK\u0130-T\u00fcrkiye K\u00f6m\u00fcr \u0130\u015fletmeleri) was founded, and the assets of both GEL\u0130 and EK\u0130TA\u015e were transferred to TK\u0130.5<\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hard coal production in Turkey peaked in 1967 and has been in a slow but steady decline ever since. In 2020, production fell below 1 million tonnes, down to 990 thousand tonnes. In the meantime, asphaltite production in South-Eastern Turkey took off, and there have been significant increases in lignite production across the country. In 2022, saleable coal production<\/a> in Turkey reached 82.34 million tonnes in total, of which 80.93 million tonnes were lignite and asphaltite and 1.41 million tonnes were hard coal. Compared to the previous year, saleable coal production increased by 8 million tonnes. (TK\u0130 Coal Sector Report 2022<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lignite production displayed an upward trend between 1970 and 1998, and two V-shaped decline and recovery periods since 2000. According to Turkish Coal Enterprise (TKI), pause in coal production in Af\u015fin-Elbistan due to the landslides in 2011, insufficient levels of new investments in the sector and increase in production costs as a result of the legislative changes introduced after the mining disasters in 2014 and 2015 are the main causes of decline in lignite production between 2011 and 2015<\/a>. The reason for the decline in 2020 is explained by the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Legislative changes that were introduced to decrease costs arguably led to a recovery in lignite production<\/a>. From 2015 until 2018, lignite production in Turkey increased by 44%. As of 2020, Turkey is the third largest lignite producer in the world<\/a>, following Germany and Russia. In 2019, it ranked 11th in the world in total coal production, regardless of type. Despite the top position of the country in production, its imports have reached high figures as well. With 36 million tonnes of coal imports in 2021, Turkey follows Germany who is the largest coal importer outside of the Asia Pacific region.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of Turkey\u2019s hard coal deposits are located in Zonguldak basin. Coal is extracted in Amasra, Armut\u00e7uk, Kozlu, \u00dcz\u00fclmez and Karadon regions in the basin. As of 2022 the total capacity of the identified geological hardcoal reserves is 1.511 billion tonnes. Visible reserve capacity stands at 725 million tonnes<\/a>. The latest reserve composition is shown at the below table:<\/p>\n\n\n\nCoal reserves<\/h2>\n\n\n\n