" The Turkish lira has lost a quarter of its value against the dollar since mid-2016."
(Quoted from the BBC article below)
Corboy question:
Those of you who visit Mevlana - are you allowed to pay her in Turkish lira?
Or are harder currencies required? Dollars, Pound Sterling, Euros?
Erdogan's Turkey
[www.bbc.co.uk]
(Quoted from the BBC article below)
Corboy question:
Those of you who visit Mevlana - are you allowed to pay her in Turkish lira?
Or are harder currencies required? Dollars, Pound Sterling, Euros?
Erdogan's Turkey
[www.bbc.co.uk]
Quote
Fear is felt on Istiklal Caddesi - or Independence Avenue - Istanbul’s main shopping street, which was until recently a symbol of the city’s vibrancy.
Hundreds of thousands of people thronged its cafes and shops each day, tourists riding the iconic rickety red tram past the foreign consulates and booksellers.
Today, it’s dotted with empty shops and bars, "for rent" signs filling spaces that would have been snapped up in days just a couple of years ago. Some avoid walking up the street entirely since a bomb exploded on it last year, killing four foreign tourists.
It’s a pattern repeated elsewhere. Leading foreign retailers, including C&A and Topshop, have pulled back from Turkey and the shopping malls that mushroomed in the past decade are no longer bustling.
Tourism, which makes up around 10% of the Turkish economy, is declining rapidly. In 2014 Turkey was the world's sixth most-visited country - with 42 million tourists.
That dropped to 25 million in 2016 as Western tourists stayed away because of security fears. Hotels have slashed rates in an effort to bring them back.
At Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, traditionally one of the world's most-visited tourist attractions, Erol Avci sits outside the carpet shop where he has worked for 39 years, desperate for custom.
“I started working here aged 18,” he says, “and this is the worst it's ever been. We're down by 80% and are not making any profit, so I'm not drawing a salary.”
His boss owns two of the shops they occupy - the third is rented and they're considering leaving it. Several others have already done so - empty shop-fronts now line some of the narrow lanes in this centuries-old maze of traders.
Quote
In the last week of the campaign, the governors of Istanbul and Ankara banned two large “no” rallies, claiming they couldn’t guarantee security. “Yes” rallies, however, went ahead – and free buses were provided to transport those who wanted to come.
On my 20-minute walk from my home to the BBC office in Istanbul, I counted 18 “yes” posters and one for “no”.
In some places “no” campaigners have been attacked and some people have been sacked for publicising their opposition.