At least 555 workers have died in occupational accidents in Gaziantep province since 2013, according to a new report by the Health and Safety Labour Watch Turkey (İSİG).
İSİG said those killed included 49 minors, 24 of whom were under 14. The number of minors dying in work-related accidents in the province is twice the national average.
Among the victims were 22 women and 66 refugees or migrants, the majority from Syria (64).
The report was released in solidarity with Mehmet Türkmen, head of the BİRTEK-SEN textile workers’ union, who was arrested on March 16, following a protest at a carpet factory in Gaziantep, where he criticized workplace safety and delayed wages.
According to the report, the construction sector accounted for the highest number of fatalities with 122 deaths, followed by agriculture with 102 and transportation with 66.
The most frequent cause of death was traffic accidents, responsible for 138 deaths, followed by crush accidents (96) and falling from heights (78).
The report also found that only a small fraction of the deceased workers were unionized, with just eight identified as union members.
The report was compiled using information gathered from national and local media, workplace doctors, trade unions and workers’ families. Many workplace accidents allegedly go unrecorded in Turkey, and some injuries are reportedly classified as “individual accidents” in private hospitals to avoid official scrutiny.
Workplace accidents remain a chronic problem in Turkey, where lax enforcement of occupational health and safety standards continues to cost lives.
İSİG documented 2,105 work-related deaths in 2025, the highest annual total in at least a decade, indicating that workplace safety in Turkey is worsening rather than improving. According to İSİG data, nearly 35,000 workers have died in workplace accidents since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in November 2002.
