Foundation and History
Turkish Coal Enterprises (TKI), with 165 years of experience, including its past activities in Zoldukdak Basin, was established according to Law No.6974 about the organization of TKI dated 31th May 1957 and the announcement in the Official Gazette No.9621. Thereafter, the operating rights of the mining activities in Zonguldak Coal Basin were transferred to Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise (TTK), established in 1982.
Coal mining activities in Soma Basin, performed by West Lignite Enterprise (GLI) until 1978, were initially started in 1913. Mining areas in the basin, operated by the private sector until 1939, were transferred to Etibank in 1939 and TKI in 1957. The area was operated by GLI between 1957 and 1978.
Aegean Lignite Enterprise (ELI) was established on 27th July 1978, and ELI then operated the mining activities.
Mining activities of TKI exhibited an increasing trend, especially in the late 1970s. Law No.2172 dated 04th October 1978, about the mines to be operated by the state, mentioned that coal mining areas close to thermal plants, which will provide the coal requirement of these plants in quality and quantity with a schedule according to pre-specified production plans, are operated by the state entities.
Immediately after proclaiming of this law, TKI started investing in multiple important mining areas such as Orhaneli, Keles, Tunçbilek, Ömerler, Seyitömer, Işıklar, Eynez, Darkale, Tınaz-Bağyaka, Sivas-Kangal, Beypazarı-Çayırhan, Afşin-Elbistan, and Bingöl-Karlıova.
As a result of these developments, TKI achieved an annual mining production rate of 60 million tonnes at the beginning of 1990. However, operating rights of Sivas-Kangal with a yearly capacity of 4.2 million tonnes, Afşin-Elbistan with an annual capacity of 20 million tonnes, and Beypazarı-Çayırhan with an annual capacity of 4.3 million tonnes were transferred to Electricity Generation Corporation (EUAS) in the years 1989, 1995, and 2000, respectively.
Coal Sales and Distribution Enterprise located in Ankara, which aimed to meet the heating need across the country and the coal requirement of industries, was closed in 1991 together with Coal Sales Units located in 18 different provinces and four towns. Last, the coal mining areas operated previously by TKI in Kütahya-Seyitömer, Muğla-Yatağan and Milas, and Bursa-Orhaneli were privatized in October 2012, August 2013, and December 2014, respectively. These mining areas are no longer evaluated in the operating structure of TKI.
Some critical milestones of TKI established in 1957 are given in the figure below:
