The Story of 150 Chinese in Amasra

The Chinese living in Amasra continue to lose their lives in the mines! Interview and article by El Jazeera Magazine in Amasra mine.

They traveled almost as far as the Great Wall of China. They descended 610 meters below the ground. Chinese workers working in the mines in Amasra brought China to the shore of the Black Sea. The reason they came to Turkey from the world's most populous country is to realize their dreams.

Sadik Gulec

We take an elevator down to Turkey's deepest coal mine, 610 meters below sea level, on a plain overlooking the Black Sea, with a green mountain behind it. We are going to the workers who are opening miles of galleries under the sea to supply coal to the Hema Power Plant, which will be built soon, which is affiliated to Hattat Holding. The journey ends when I start to feel the pressure in my ears in the rapidly descending elevator.

When an outside worker opened the iron door of the elevator, the first sentence I heard was in Chinese.

Workers trying to push a wagon speak Chinese among themselves.

Workers from China open Turkey's deepest and longest galleries. Hattat Holding, which opened this mine to reach the coal deposits under the Black Sea, gave the job to Datong, one of the most important mining companies in China, working as a subcontractor. The company brings its own workers and engineers and employs Chinese workers in the mine opened in this quiet town of the Western Black Sea.

When we reach the far end of the gallery, we see workers drilling through the rocks and placing steel cages on the walls, trying to cover them with concrete. In this place, illuminated only by the headlamps on their helmets, the workers work in series. It's almost impossible to stop and talk to them. Their work is so interconnected that one stop means the whole team stops. Very few Turkish workers work at the facility. That's why they don't need a translator. During my journey through the gallery, I only met a few Turkish workers at the entrance.

“Why did Chinese workers want to work in Turkey, thousands of kilometers away from their country?” The answer to the question is the same as the aspirations and dreams of Turkish workers who once went to Germany: to earn more money here. All of them have dreams that they want to realize when they return. In other words, Türkiye is, in a sense, the Germany of the Chinese.

Came from China, became a Galatasaray fan

Yu Wen Long, chief engineer of the subcontractor Datong Cool Mine Group that brought the workers here, has been working in Amasra for three years. When the Datong mining company offered Yu Wen Long a job, all he knew about Turkey was Galatasaray; “Before I came, I didn't know anything about this country. I had only heard of resort areas such as the Mediterranean. I know that Turkey is very good at football. I love football. I've heard of Galatasaray. I also support Galatasaray here. I loved the natural environment. It's a clean, quiet place. There is no chaos and conflict environment like other Islamic countries. Our workers were very nervous before they arrived. They thought it was similar to Middle Eastern countries like Syria or Egypt. But after coming here and working, they felt a lot of confidence.”

The vast majority of workers come from and around the city of Harbin in northeastern China, known for its hard coal deposits. Our translator, Abdurrahman Öztürk, a Uyghur Turk who came to Turkey from Urumqi and studied at the university, said, “Harbin is China's Zonguldak.” says.

Therefore, they are more experienced than Turkish workers.

Hattat Energy and Mining Inc. Suat Ölmez, Amasra operations manager, said, “Deep well excavations are done very little in Turkey. There are either two or not. Deep wells are the only way to reach mines hundreds of meters deep. There are thousands of wells dug with this technique in China. Of course, they are far ahead of us in terms of experience and technology. We do not have technical personnel trained in this field, but China has very experienced personnel in this regard. Techniques that have never been applied in Turkey are used here.” says.

Ölmez explained the reason for preferring the Chinese, "It is not cheap labor force as it is thought from the outside, but they have the technology and trained personnel." he explains. Chinese workers are more specialized in certain subjects. Hattat Holding has digging two separate wells in Bartın, Amasra and Çatalağzı, which is also close to Amasra. The two wells will soon be combined underground. Since Chinese workers are experts in drilling deep wells, their wages may be higher than Turkish workers. A Chinese worker earns an average of 3 thousand liras per month.

He chose Turkey because he was Muslim.

There are currently 150 Chinese workers in Amasra. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, 8 thousand 677 Chinese work in Turkey. 1,255 of these workers were employed in coal mines. In addition, Chinese workers and engineers take part in large projects such as the Ankara-Istanbul high-speed train line. The Chinese rank second among foreign workers working in Turkey.

After Zhang Yue Peng worked in other mines in Harbin, he immediately applied when he heard that Turkey was looking for a worker. He especially wanted to work in Turkey. This is because Zhang Yue Peng is a Chinese Muslim. He hails from a Muslim Chinese community in Harbin that dates back hundreds of years. His goal is to earn some money and open a small restaurant with the money he saves when he returns. It has been one month since I came to Amasra. She tells me about her dreams as she shows me a picture of her little five-year-old daughter; “Here, I miss my daughter the most. Sometimes I video chat with my family on the phone or over the internet. If I work for a year, I think I will collect enough money. There is no such high cost in our places as here. With the money I save, I can open a restaurant there.” Stating that he can save up to 15 thousand dollars as a result of a year's work in Turkey, Pheng says that this money is enough for a small place he will open in China.

A Chinese woman in a coal mine

The woman who cleaned the lodging where the workers were staying also came from China. Hei Long Jiang, 52, is from QiTai He city, China. The only female employee here. His wife also works in the mine. When he heard that the company was looking for a cleaner, he applied immediately because he had the opportunity to work with his wife. He has been in Turkey for two years. “Both of my children have grown up. My daughter got married and my son works for a company in China. Now we want to save some money and open a small business in China.” says. Their faces change when they ask how much they have saved and how much more money they need. If they tell, they are afraid that the mafia will haunt them when they return to China.

I ask him if he is lonely here. He says that the wife of the company's Chinese director is also here, just befriending him. He did not have the opportunity to make friends with Turkish women. “We don't have much time here. I visited Bartın and Amasra. I ate Turkish food but I couldn't get used to it. But I loved your breads.” he adds. Hei Long Jiang and his wife live in a small room in the prefabricated lodging where other Chinese workers are staying. She puts her makeup on one of the bunk beds in the room and poses in front of them.

Before they came, all they knew about Türkiye was that it was a Middle Eastern country. Therefore, their biggest concern has been safety. That's why Xie Zheng Qi's family strongly opposed his coming to Turkey. Xie Zheng Qi, the father of three, the eldest of whom is in high school, said, “They are all studying. So I have to earn a lot of money.” says. While working in another mine in China, he saw Datong's advertisements and applied for the job; “After I came, I loved this place. I did not expect such a green country. Nature surprised me. I loved having the sea. I saw that Türkiye is a very comfortable country.”

Business manager Cheng Yin He has experienced similar things. But after he came, all his worries disappeared. “When I first came here, we used to lock the doors. I always saw very bad events on the Middle East on the news. I was impressed by them. I saw that the doors were open in Amasra. This is something we have never had. Now we leave our doors open. Nothing happens." He was also surprised that people in Bartın were feeding the pigeons. Laughing, "Pigeons are eaten with us." says. After his return, his aim is to open a place that trades coal. He also doesn't want to answer questions about money.

Their cooks are also from China

All of the workers tried Turkish food but could not get used to it. Exceptions are doner kebab, buttermilk and hazelnuts. Lian Shue Hai cannot forget the döner bread she ate for the first time in Bartın. There is also a kitchen in the dining hall in Lojman. Li Yu Ku cooks the dishes from China. Saying that he had no trouble finding ingredients for Chinese dishes, Li Yu Ku said, “I buy vegetables from the market in Bartın. It's all very fresh.” says.

Some of the mine's technical needs come from China. While these ingredients were coming, the food items that Chef Li Yu Ku wanted were also placed in the containers. More canned foods and spices are coming.

They make double the money

Unlike Turkish workers, Chinese workers at the mine do not take their weekly leave. They work eight hours a day, seven days a week. Sometimes they also worked overtime on it. All their aim is to collect enough money for their dreams and return to their country.

A girl's father Lin ChunYouda is one of those who want to trade after returning to Harbin. While working for the same company in China for seven years, his salary was close to $800. Here, he earns 3 thousand – 3 thousand 500 liras. “I will decide what to do after I return.” says.

When the interview is over, Chinese life continues in Amasra from where it left off. Some people check their watches and look for the family they left in their hometown six hours ahead of Turkey, some go to the kitchen and some to rest.

There is work the next day, and work starts early in the dark mine.