JINHA

MÊRDÎN - Many people were killed; cities were demolished and burned due to genocidal attacks carried out in Kurdistan. All people are affected to ongoing war in Kurdistan. The shopkeepers are among these people. We talked to female shopkeepers about this period in which tourism has ceased, shops have closed the shutters and many people have been dismissed.

Massacres, which carried out by the state and government forces, have continued with destruction in Kurdistan. State forces that have invaded every side have caused the local tourists run away. Foreign tourists don't come due to ongoing war. Occupancy rate of hotels is 10%. When you hand the microphone to people, some of them have already gone bankrupt while other are about to go belly up. The shopkeepers, who want peace, think the fraternity has been killed in Mesopotamia where many peoples live together. Female shopkeepers those who came from cosmopolitan cities, sell souvenir to the foreign tourists. They noted that they want the war to be stopped and continue to live together.

Sevcan Yılmaz has a souvenir shop in Mardin. She opened a soap factory with three women three years ago. They produced soap and sold them in their shop; however, they had to close the factory due to war. Sevcan and her partners provided employment opportunity to housewives by selling their handicrafts in their shop. Sevcan said, "We made significant investment. We closed our factory, where five people worked, five months ago. We produced soap with the brand "Jin". We had to close the factory due to ongoing process. I'm trying to continue with this shop now. We produce souvenirs and soap and we sell them. I work with women. Our business was good; however, the tourists have begun to not come here after war and curfew declared in this area. Everything started to go bad. "We don't know what we can do now. I am going to close my shop. All shopkeepers are same with me. No one prefer the war, we demand this war to be stopped."

Yüksel Taş works in a souvenir shop. She said, "I have worked here for one year. We sell the products produced by women. Our business is going worse each day. Our sales were good before the war process. But no tourist comes here now. Let's pour a bowl of water on this fire and war. Let's stop this war by organizing. My only wish is stop the blood."

Funda Aksan is working in a shop that natural soaps and oils are sold, in Mardin's Midyat district. Funda is in this business for four years. Funda said, "Tourism is almost stopped not only in Mardin but also in Turkey. Our business is based on tourism. We have difficult times. We want to be like before. We want to live together, we don't want war."

(ce-ea/dk/gd)