The people of Van, who had been under the economic embargo of the Turkish state for years, became even poorer because of the economic crisis, and the unemployment rate increased even more.

Speaking to ANF, one of the citizens, Aydın Türkmen, said that in the last year, the situation has become unbearable because of the economic crisis. Stating that all his savings melted away in a year, Türkmen added: “This year, I lost all that I had earned and saved in previous years. I have been unemployed for about 8 months. I had to spend whatever I had saved. Last year, I was meeting all the food needs of a one-month house with 400 liras. But this year, 400 liras does not even meet the food needs of a house for 3 days. The food cost of a house today is between 3 thousand and 4 thousand liras. Again, last year, my natural gas bill was between 150 and 250 liras, but this year it increased to between 450 and 750. Again, while electricity was between 70 and 100 TL last year, it increased to between 350 and 500 TL this year. It became impossible to get along when the situation was like this.”

We haven’t bought clothes in two years

Şengül Meydan is the only one working in a family of 7. Stating that her husband is unemployed and she receives a salary of 2 thousand 800 liras at her workplace, she asked: “How are we going to get by with this salary I get now? The salary I get can’t cover the expenses of the house, children and the bills. Every month we have to borrow money somewhere. My husband and I could not buy ourselves a dress or shoes for about two years. We manage with our old stuff. We only see red meat in our dreams anyway. We no longer live, we crawl. We have no more joy in life. Now we have given up on ourselves, our only concern is our children. We are fighting for their lives."