November 3, 2025
Rare earth, rare chill
Türkiye will not sell rare earth elements to the USA
Comment wars over 'no sale', NATO loyalty, and a China twist
TLDR: Turkey says rare earths aren’t being sold to the U.S. and will expand a state-run mine at Beylikova. Comments split between calls to boot Turkey from NATO, reminders NATO isn’t about trade, and fact-checks saying it’s a misquote, with a China deal intensifying the debate.
Türkiye just lobbed a geopolitics grenade: Energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar said “selling rare earths to the U.S. is out of the question,” and the comments lit up. One camp hears “no sale, period.” Another says it’s about keeping ownership and processing under state control, not banning exports. shigawire asks if the US can buy the output; cue confusion and conspiracy goggles.
Then the fact-checkers crash the party. tokai claims the quote’s being misread: it’s a denial of current sales rumors, not a forever embargo. Meanwhile, redwood goes full hawk with “kick them out of NATO,” prompting phailhaus to deadpan: NATO is a defensive alliance, not a trade org — “NATO isn’t Amazon Prime.” The vibe: rare earth, rare chill.
Behind the shouting, the receipts: Beylikova in Eskişehir is the world’s No. 2 rare earth elements deposit. The state-owned Eti Mining will do open-pit (big hole) mining, build a processing plant next year, and scale from a 2023 pilot to higher purity (92–93% and rising). Fluorite and thorium are on the menu, plus long-term storage for radioactive waste. Also spicy: Turkey’s 2024 China mining cooperation deal, which commenters see as the subtext to the “no U.S.” drama.
Key Points
- •Turkey’s energy minister said selling rare earth elements to the United States is not under consideration.
- •The Beylikova rare earth site in Eskişehir will be state-operated, with a processing plant to start construction next year and finish in about two years.
- •Extraction will be conducted by the state-owned General Directorate of Eti Mining using open-pit mining, ore enrichment, and hydrometallurgical processes.
- •Operations will produce fluorite and thorium as by-products and include long-term storage facilities for radioactive waste and thorium compounds.
- •Beylikova is the world’s second-largest rare earth deposit (discovered in 2022); a pilot facility has operated since 2023, and Turkey signed a 2024 cooperation agreement with China focused on rare earths.