Jewellers say they face ruin
JEWELLERS in Lefkoşa’s walled city say they face ruin because of a combination of the pandemic, the fall in the value of the Turkish lira and rising gold prices, it was reported this week.
A gramme of gold, which cost 301.2TL at the start of the year, now costs 480TL while a “whole” gold Turkish republic coin has gone up in price from 1,960TL to 3,280TL over the same period. There have been similar price rises for “half” and “quarter” Republic gold coins.
Jewellery shops owners in the Arasta area of the capital claim that they have been “forgotten” by local shoppers and the government.
Hüseyin Altınbaş said: “Gold prices have almost doubled since the beginning of the year. As [the value of] foreign currency increases, gold gains value. At the moment we do have any business. . . Tourism is dead already, we only have a few local regular clients.”
İsmail Aksu said: “People used to invest
in quarter [Republic] gold coins. However, currently we cannot sell gold. We need to sell 100 quarter [gold coins] to cover the daily expenses. There are no tourists as the Lokmacı border is closed.”
Mahmut Şanlıtürk said: “We haven’t sold anything for 16 days. The Lokmacı checkpoint was our only hope. On the other hand, there is [Covid-19]. There is no way out.”
Suat Yamak said: “We were planning to organise a discount ‘party’ to draw locals to Arasta, but it has been cancelled due to the pandemic. There is also nowhere for people to park.”
Mustafa Yüksekbaş said: “Our business has been affected due to the pandemic. We [depend] on . . . tourists. Locals never come anyway. We have been forgotten.”
Turgut Süngüllü said “Locals generally use the Metropol, Dereboyu and Yenikent areas [of Lefkoşa] for shopping. Why is there no investment in Arasta? There are no parking places, no branded shops or restaurants.”
Ali Saygın said: “The [jewellery] market area in the South is busy. They are supported by locals. In the North, people only visit the bars in Arasta. There are no car parks and people [parking on the roads] get fines if they are a little bit late [returning to their vehicles].”