"We will be closed completely!"

With the still high number of cases, the failure to reduce the number of deaths, the tendency of the epidemic to get out of control and the effect of the approaching tourism season, a "complete closure" decision was made.

This decision, which is not supported by financial support, points to a difficult process for many tradesmen who are “on the verge of closing”. Tradesmen, who cannot pay their debts, which are neither deferred nor current, fear that the closure, which will be implemented without "financial support", will be a "complete closure" for them.

WE CANNOT PAY CREDITS, RENTAL AID IS A MUST

Evaluating the decision on a television channel, Bendevi Palandöken, President of the Turkey Confederation of Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK), said that they were not waiting for a "full closure" decision and were not prepared for this decision. Stating that the tradesmen are in difficulty and currently cannot pay their loans, Palandöken stated that the aids should be in the form of grants, not loans, and that it is necessary to provide rent aid to businesses.

Kaya Demirer, President of the Tourism Restaurant Investors and Gastronomy Enterprises Association (TURYID), said in his statement on the same channel. for the decision that businesses can only deliver package services,

A very small size of our takeaway business makes up 3 percent of our business. Restaurants do not have the chance to meet their rent with take-away service. Structured tax liabilities and loans should be deferred for 6 months.

THE TRADERS DOES NOT HAVE MONEY EVEN FOR THE OLD DEBTS

While the epidemic negatively affected all segments of the society, the biggest blow hit the shopkeepers. The tightening or loosening of restrictions aggravated the accumulated burden of the trades, with the unclear schedule and their inability to generate sufficient turnover even when they were open.

The monthly income support of 1000 lira for tradesmen, craftsmen and real person merchants, 750 lira per month for shopkeepers in metropolitan cities and 500 lira monthly rental support for those in other provinces were not found sufficient, although they were welcomed. The tradesmen, who cannot even pay the structured debts of the past and add new rent, tax and premium debts on top of them, are waiting for unrequited supports, ie grants, instead of new loans.