Konya Closed Basin records over 740 sinkholes as crops rely on groundwater
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Sinkholes in the Konya Closed Basin have passed 740, and estimates put illegal wells at 26,000 to 140,000. The sources reviewed do not say what causes the sinkholes or how much water is pumped from the basin's wells.
- Konya Şeker — Paid growers 12.78 billion lira in the 2025–26 season Ekonomim
- Konya Closed Basin groundwater — Pumped for irrigation; the volume taken from licensed wells is not measured
What happened
GZT reported that the number of sinkholes on the Konya plain had passed 740.
Estimates put the number of illegal wells in the basin between 26,000 and 140,000.
Ekonomim reported that sugar beet, potato and maize get 90 to 95 percent of their water from groundwater, and that Konya Şeker paid growers 12.78 billion lira in the 2025–26 season.
According to the Court of Accounts, the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ) does not know how much water is pumped from its licensed wells.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- None on record The sources reviewed do not state what causes the sinkholes.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: the 26,000 to 140,000 illegal-well estimate; the sources reviewed do not name its author.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not state the total volume pumped in the basin or its water balance, or any penalty for illegal wells.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Press and investigations
Connected cases
- Alleged flow-meter manipulation at a Turkish hydropower plant on the Alakır river Turkey · date not stated
- State Hydraulic Works (DSİ) (Public authority) — here: Water authority that does not track pumping from licensed wells, according to the Court of Accounts; there: Subject of a 2017 criminal complaint over a flow-meter game at a hydropower plant (CNN Türk)
- Turkey allocates hydropower water rights to the highest bidder Turkey · 2004–2026
- State Hydraulic Works (DSİ) (Public authority) — here: Water authority that does not track pumping from licensed wells, according to the Court of Accounts; there: Public authority that allocates hydropower water rights by tender