{"id":47038,"date":"2021-11-27T10:23:01","date_gmt":"2021-11-27T10:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=47038"},"modified":"2021-11-27T10:23:01","modified_gmt":"2021-11-27T10:23:01","slug":"turkish-lira-crisis-hits-idlib-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=47038","title":{"rendered":"Turkish lira crisis hits Idlib in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Jamil Barakat says it was never easy to sustain a living in Syria\u2019s northwestern Idlib town. But the Turkish lira crisis next door and skyrocketing inflation have made running his small business a nightmare.<\/p>\n

\u201cProduce prices change every day, and customers are in disbelief,\u201d Barakat tells Al Jazeera. \u201cAnd of course you have to take into consideration rent and transportation costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The value of the Turkish lira to the US dollar earlier this week crashed to a record low, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defends sharp interest rate cuts. Over the past year, the Turkish currency lost<\/a> about 40 percent of its value, and inflation is approaching 20 percent.<\/p>\n

Turkey\u2019s fiscal crisis has spilled over into opposition-held Idlib in neighbouring Syria, which adopted the Turkish currency more than a year ago. Some 4.4 million people live in Idlib, about half of them are displaced.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not only the monetary connection with Turkey but also the trade connection,\u201d Karam Shaar, the research director of Syrian think-tank Operations and Policy Center, tells Al Jazeera. \u201cBab al-Hawa<\/a>, the most significant border crossing with Turkey, is effectively controlled by HTS [Hayet Tahrir al-Sham<\/a>].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything here is imported,\u201d Barakat says, pointing at all his fruit and vegetables. \u201cDo we have any orchards or groves here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mohammad al-Ahmad is also struggling to keep his bakery in business, with flour and fuel prices skyrocketing \u2013 all brought in from Turkey.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this rate, it will cost three lira ($0.24) to produce a bundle of bread, but we have no choice but to keep selling it at 2.5,\u201d al-Ahmad says. \u201cWe\u2019ll have to work at a loss but how else will people afford it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Some 4.4 million people live in Idlib, approximately half of whom are displaced citizens [Ali Haj Suleiman\/Al Jazeera]<\/figure>\n

Al-Ahmad says wheat and fuel costs internationally have been increasing, so the Turkish fiscal crisis is an additional burden for him and about a dozen employees. \u201cI mean you can see even in Lebanon they have a wheat and fuel crisis of their own, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaar says Syrians in Idlib will struggle to cope with price shocks, especially as its weak economy relies heavily on international aid for subsistence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the Turkish currency depreciates, prices adjust quickly,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut because wages are sticky and take longer to adjust, people no longer can afford commodities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many people are borrowing money to buy groceries or asking shop owners such as Farid Mahloul if they could pay them back later.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day is something new, the lira goes up and down and it\u2019s hard to price things properly,\u201d Mahloul tells Al Jazeera. \u201cWhen customers can\u2019t pay us back on time, we work at a bigger loss because the value of the lira continues to decline.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018So difficult\u2019<\/h2>\n

Mahloul says he is doing everything he can to keep his small grocery store in Idlib in business. \u201cIt\u2019s just so difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is hitting families hard. Many who already work long hours for very little money are now unable to secure the basic necessities to survive.<\/p>\n

Fakhri Bitar fled war-torn Homs to Idlib eight years ago, and the taxi driver is in disbelief at the declining value of what he earns. \u201cYou end up working for your income, and once you\u2019re done the lira suddenly goes up,\u201d he tells Al Jazeera. \u201cEverything you worked for is spent almost entirely on rent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bitar says he has had to cut costs on basic goods for his three children, like milk and diapers. \u201cDiapers have doubled in prices, and so we bought the poor quality ones that give my kids skin irritations,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Going forward, Syrians in Idlib are more anxious than ever for winter this year.<\/p>\n

The Turkish lira crisis next door and skyrocketing inflation make life in Idlib hard [Ali Haj Suleiman\/Al Jazeera]<\/figure>\n

Residents tell Al Jazeera that aid for the winter has significantly declined, and the Turkish lira crisis could be a decisive blow.<\/p>\n

Barakat has not been able to buy fuel for heating this winter. His income alone is not enough for other expenses, now more out of reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sold my wife\u2019s engagement ring to pay for this month,\u201d he says while anxiously rearranging his produce. \u201cSo we haven\u2019t been able to buy anything for the winter because fuel is too expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he says his burdens are far less overwhelming than others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have kids, thank God,\u201d he says laughing.<\/p>\n

But Bitar says he fears for his children\u2019s health as his family anticipates a frigid winter season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t even thought about getting a heater set up yet,\u201d the taxi driver says. \u201cMy kids are already getting sick because of the cold weather, and I can\u2019t afford to get them proper treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kareem Chehayeb reported from Beirut, Lebanon. Ali Haj Suleiman reported from Idlib, Syria<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jamil Barakat says it was never easy to sustain a living in Syria\u2019s northwestern Idlib town. But the Turkish lira crisis next door and skyrocketing inflation have made running his small business a nightmare. \u201cProduce prices change every day, and customers are in disbelief,\u201d Barakat tells Al Jazeera. \u201cAnd of course you have to take…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47038\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}