* Photographs: Selim Bostancı - Gökhan Yılmaz / AA
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After the Turkish Hard Coal Authority (TTK) announced that it would employ one thousand underground production workers and the applications for the position could be made as of February 12, thousands of people, the majority of whom were unemployed young adults, queued in front of the Zonguldak Provincial Directorate of the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR).
People started waiting in front of the directorate late in the night and they continued waiting in line during the day as well. There were also similar images in front of the İŞKUR offices in the district of Karadeniz Ereğli in Zonguldak as well as in the province of Bartın.
It has been reported that over 5 thousand applications have been made for the position so far in Zonguldak, Bartın and Karabük.
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Erdoğan promised employment to workers
In a rally that he held in Zonguldak last year, President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that a total of 1,500 underground production workers would be employed by the TTK. Accordingly, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources completed its works and the job advertisement was posted.
Waiting in line to apply for the position all night long, people tried to get warm by using the blankets that they brought along and drinking tea.
It has been announced that one thousand people to be hired by the TTK will be distributed among the three Black Sea provinces of Zonguldak, Bartın and Karabük. While 700 of them will be employed in Zonguldak, 200 of them will be hired in Bartın and 100 of them in Karabük.
On March 2-3, lots will be cast in the presence of a notary public and it will be determined who will be employed by the TTK.
1 million people become unemployed in 6 months
According to the data shared by the İŞKUR, as of January 2019, there are 3 million 775 thousand unemployed people in Turkey. This figure was 2 million 457 thousand in January 2018, which indicates that the number of the unemployed has increased by 54 percent over the last year.
While 1 million 300 thousand people have became unemployed in the last year, 266 thousand people lost their jobs in January 2019, which accounts for a 7.6-percent monthly increase.
According to the figures shared by the İŞKUR, which solely includes the registered unemployed people in its statistics, the registered unemployment in the country has increased by 1 million and 105 thousand people since the last general elections on June 24, 2018.
The number of the unemployed was 2.67 million in July 2018. After August 2018, which was marked by a mounting financial crisis and fluctuating exchange rates, 1 million 105 thousand people became unemployed. (HA/SD)
