Shopkeepers close up their shops in Hakkari in Turkey

Already harmed by the curfews implemented four years ago, the shopkeepers of Yüksekova district of Hakkari (Colemêrg) in Turkey are having difficulties due to their products being seized, ecnomocial crisis and the Covid pandemic. Yüksekova Chamber of Merchants and Craftsmen (YETSO) chair Vedat Çoğaç stated that 117 shopkeepers closed up their shops in the last 10 months.

There had been 1500 shopkeepers registered to YETSO during the year when the curfews were declared four years ago. 500 shopkeepers stopped trading as their shops were destroyed by shells and fire. Shopkeepers had just began to recover after the curfews only to be hit again, this time by economic crisis that has crippled them again. Consequently, 117 shopkeepers have deregistered from YETSO in last ten months.