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Jamil Barakat claims that it was not easy to live in the northwestern city of Idlib in Syria. But the crisis in Turkey over rising prices has made its small business difficult.
“Pricing changes every day, and customers are skeptical,” Barakat told Al Jazeera. “And, of course, you have to think about rent and transportation.”
The value of the Turkish lira to the US dollar earlier this week dropped sharply, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defending the inflation rate. For the past year, the Turkish currency lost about 40 percent of its value, and inflation is approaching 20 percent.
The economic crisis in Turkey has reached Idlib near Syria, which took more Turkish money than a year ago. An estimated 4.4 million people live in Idlib, half of whom have fled their homes.
“It is not just a financial connection with Turkey but also a trade link,” Karam Shaar, head of research at the Syrian think-tank Operations and Policy Center, told Al Jazeera. “Bab al-Hawa, the most important cross-border destination in Turkey, is well managed by the HTS [Hayet Tahrir al-Sham]. ”
“Everything here is imported,” says Barakat, pointing to all the fruits and vegetables. “Do we have orchards or orchards here?”
Mohammad al-Ahmad is also struggling to keep his bread in business, flour and oil prices rising – all imported from Turkey.
“At this rate, it will take three lira ($ 0.24) to make a bundle of bread, but we have no choice but to continue selling 2.5,” al-Ahmad said. “We have to work hard but how can people afford it?”
Al-Ahmad says the price of wheat and oil worldwide is on the rise, which is why the economic crisis in Turkey is a burden to him and about a dozen workers. “I mean you can see that even in Lebanon they have a problem with wheat and their own oil.”
Shaar says the Syrian people in Idlib will struggle to cope with the price crisis, especially since its weak economy relies heavily on international aid to finance it.
“When the Turkish currency falls, prices change rapidly,” he explains. “But because wages are so tight and take so long to change, people can no longer afford to buy things.”
Many people are borrowing money to buy food or to ask shopkeepers like Farid Mahloul if they can repay them later.
“Every day is something new, the lira goes up and down and it is difficult to buy things properly,” Mahloul told Al Jazeera. “If customers fail to repay us on time, we lose a lot of money because the price of the lira continues to decline.”
‘It’s difficult’
Mahloul says he is doing everything he can to turn his small shop in Idlib into a business. “It’s very difficult.”
It is affecting families. Many who once had to work long hours just to make ends meet have been unable to make ends meet.
Fakhri Bitar had fled the war-torn Homs to Idlib eight years ago, and the taxi driver could not believe his eyes. “You finish work to earn your living, and when you finish the lira rises abruptly,” he tells Al Jazeera. “Everything you’ve worked on ends up in rent.”
Bitar is said to have reduced the cost of basic necessities for her three children, such as milk and diapers. “Diapers have doubled in price, so we bought some unsightly ones that give my kids skin pain,” she says.
Going forward, the Syrian people in Idlib are more worried than ever in winter this year.
The Turkish lira crisis near inflation makes life in Idlib difficult [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]Residents tell Al Jazeera that winter aid has dropped significantly, and the Turkish lira crisis could be a major problem.
Barakat was unable to purchase heating oil in the winter. His income alone will not be enough for other expenses, which he cannot afford.
“We sold my wife’s engagement ring to pay for this month,” he says as he reaps his harvest. “So we could not afford to buy anything in the winter because oil is so expensive.”
But he says his burden is less than that of others.
“I have no children, thank God,” she says with a laugh.
But Bitar says he fears for the health of his children as his family awaits the coldest weather.
“We never thought of turning on the heater,” says the taxi driver. “My children are already suffering from the cold, and I can’t afford to give them the care they need.”
Kareem Chehayeb also quoted from Beirut, Lebanon. Ali Haj Suleiman also quoted from Idlib, Syria
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