Economic crisis hits hard in Hakkari

Hakkari shopkeepers said that the economic situation in the country would sink into 'famine' if things continue like this and underlined that they are exposed to great debt.

Unemployment continues to increase in the region of Hakkari, where war never stops.

85 percent of the youth are unemployed in Hakkari. Most of the unemployed young people have to go to metropolitan cities.

One of the sectors most affected by the economic crisis is artisanship. Dozens of tradesmen had to close their shops in July due to the economic crisis. Hundreds of tradesmen are unable to pay their debts, and dozens of them have become insolvent.

Shopkeepers open their workplaces in the morning, close their shutters in the evening hoping to sell more the next day.

The economic policies of the AKP-MHP government affect the economy everywhere.

The common point of many tradesmen we interviewed in Hakkari city center is that they are unable to do business due to the crisis. Tradesmen said that with the increase in the dollar exchange rate, the prices of food and goods increased, while purchasing power decreased.

A citizen who has been working as a tradesman for 20 years on Bulvar Street, which is the busiest street of Hakkari, said that they had not been able to do business for months and they are quickly sinking. "We are in a situation by which hundreds of tradesmen are opening their workplaces at their own expenses. We open our workplaces in the morning, hoping to sell something, but we close in the evening often having sold nothing. Hundreds of our tradesmen cannot even pay their rent. Some of our friends had to close their businesses due to debts."

Another artisan who work near Hakkari State Hospital said: "The overall situation is very serious. Famine in our region is not such a remote possibility, in fact in some areas people are beginning to suffer from hunger. In another country, such situation would lead to protests against the government. But in Turkey the AKP and MHP do not care: they live in palaces, the people have become unable to find bread. I do not know how long this situation will continue."