Amber, which has been burned as kindling by the locals for years, is being processed to contribute to the country’s economy.

In order to evaluate the amber stone extracted from the village of Aydıncık in Bayburt and to train qualified human resources, the amber workshop operating within the Public Education Center provides services where students both produce and are employed. Amber, which is a fossilized tree resin, had been used by the villagers as kindling and fuel for many years. Nowadays, amber, which competes with gold, is processed by skilled hands in the workshop and transformed into jewelry and decorative items. Discovered in the village of Aydıncık in Bayburt in 2018, the Bayburt-specific amber, which is equivalent to one-third of gold, is processed in the workshop with students under the leadership of Jewelry Technology Department teacher Gökhan Polat and turned into accessories such as prayer beads, rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings.
Within the scope of the ‘Regional Production Employment on-site’ project submitted by the Provincial Directorate of National Education to the Eastern Black Sea Regional Development Administration (DOKAP), an amber processing workshop was established within the Public Education Center Directorate. Practical training sessions have started to be provided at the workshop established to evaluate the unique amber stone as a souvenir item and to train qualified human resources. In addition, by teaching amber processing in the course, the aim is for the amber stone to find a place and become widespread as an industry in Bayburt. Besides being used as a souvenir item, the amber stone, which is also used in spiritual and medical fields, is aimed to contribute to the Bayburt economy as an underground asset.
Jewelry Technology Department teacher Gökhan Polat, who stated that the work is carried out meticulously without interruption, said, ‘The amber extracted in Aydıncık village has been used as fuel for years. We are transforming this product into jewelry and accessories with the students. We are working to contribute to the Bayburt region and to the country’s economy.’
‘His hobby turned into a job’
Bayram İpek, a student who has been interested in amber stone as a hobby for a long time, learned amber processing techniques at the course he attended and is now continuing professionally in the amber business that he started with enthusiasm. Mentioning that he has been closely involved with Bayburt amber for about 4 years and has been working professionally for 2 years, İpek stated that they work on various products such as necklaces, bracelets, and prayer beads made from Bayburt amber at the amber workshop established within the Public Education Center. İpek said, ‘The purpose of our intensive work here is to promote Bayburt amber to Turkey and the whole world, to make amber visible.’
‘Contributing to the national economy and promoting Bayburt amber to the world’
Providing information about the workshop activities, Public Education Center Director Selçuk Çakmak stated that they will significantly contribute to the national economy with the products produced in the workshop, ‘Within our institution, our jewelry workshop is available within our hobby courses aimed at providing vocational skills for employment. This workshop is of great importance to us because the valuable Bayburt amber is processed here. We are talking about a stone extracted only in Bayburt, the Bayburt amber is important in terms of being recognized both in Turkey and worldwide. Amber is a more important stone than Erzurum’s Oltu stone. Oltu stone is the fossil itself. Amber, on the other hand, which we call amber, is formed from the resin of pine and is only found in Bayburt, making it a very valuable piece. Amber needs to be introduced, and for that purpose, it needs to be processed into souvenirs and presented to people’s liking. One of our aims in establishing this workshop is this. Our workshop was established last year with a budget of 350 million with the support of the DOKAP project. In our workshop, we aim to train our students who are devoted to this work to establish their businesses.