Good transportation to Turkey’s eastern regions drops sharply amid security concerns

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

Around 5,000 trucks could not find a job due to the escalating violence in Turkey’s east due to clashes between the outlawed PKK and Turkish security forces, with the growing possibility of furloughing drivers, according to Turkish Transporters’ Association (TND) head Erol Özçelik, as reported by Turkish daily Dünya. 

Truck transportation to the country’s eastern and southeastern regions have seen over 75 percent of decrease over this year, leaving around 5,000 truck drivers jobless in Istanbul, he told Dünya. 

“We have been in talks with the employer union to announce unpaid leaves for workers and drivers for at least four months. Otherwise, we cannot oversee further losses,” he said. 

While there has been a dramatic decrease in consumer demand in eastern regions, there is a rising unwillingness in western manufacturers to send goods to the other side of the country because of security concerns. 

Özçelik said the largest decrease in land transportation has been seen in Diyarbakır and Şanlıurfa, followed by Van, Mardin, Batman, Siirt, Şırnak, Ağrı and Kars. 

“We had already seen around a 25 percent of decrease in good transportation across Turkey for the past months due to a general slowdown in the economy and a sharp drop in the Turkish Lira’s value…The escalating violence in the country’s eastern parts has now worsened the situation,” he said. 

“We hope the economic and trade activities will back to normal after the elections,” he added.