The detrimental health effects of Turkey’s appetite for coal have become evident during the coronavirus pandemic, as Turkish officials singled out Zonguldak, a small Black Sea province where lung disease is prevalent, for additional precautions.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced new measures against COVID-19 on April 4, including an intercity travel ban on 31 provinces for the next 15 days. The 30 cities on the list were the country’s largest, with populations of 750,000 and above. The only exception was the city of Zonguldak: home to Turkey’s largest reserves of hard coal and its biggest coal-fired power plant.