Sezgin Tanrıkulu, a member of parliament for Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), revealed that approximately 32,000 workers have lost their lives in preventable workplace incidents during the tenure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), with alarming numbers from recent years.
Tanrıkulu shared his report on workplace safety violations in Turkey on ‘World Day for Safety and Health at Work’, an annual United Nations initiative marked on 28 April.
According to Tanrıkulu’s report, at least 32,478 workers lost their lives between 2002 and 2023 due to preventable hazards. At least 907 children are included in the death toll, as well as other vulnerable workers, the report cites.
“Under AKP rule, from 2002 until now, around 32,000 workers have lost their lives. Among them are children, women and refugees. In just 2022, over 1,900 workers lost their lives, and in 2023, this number surpassed 2,000,” Tanrıkulu stated.
Tanrıkulu added that such high casualty figures require urgent action to improve workplace safety standards, emphasising the need for accountability and measures to prevent further loss of life.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party submitted a bill to the Turkish parliament proposing the designation of 28 April as a day of commemoration and mourning for those who perished in the workplace in what they described as “occupational homicides”.
The workplace death toll in Turkey is a result of labour models based on the excessive profit ambition of the government, DEM Party said, justifying the bill. The labour force falls victim to a failure to take “necessary precautions” regarding Occupational Health and Safety, “insufficient inspections in workplaces, and employers’ evasion of criminal responsibilities”, the party noted.
DEM Party’s initiative, led by Group Vice-Chairs Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit and Sezai Temelli, highlighted alarming statistics provided by the Occupational Health and Safety Assembly (İSİG), an independent group of academics and activists.
The figures show a stark increase in deaths over the past decade, with a clear rise since the AKP came to power in 2002:
