Quake-stricken shopkeepers open stalls on streets

MALATYA

A few shopkeepers in the southeastern quake-hit province of Malataya have opened stalls on roadsides with whatever they could save in their shops, not to make a profit but to bring the city back to its former glory and extend a helping hand in such difficult times.

While business life got disrupted in Malatya, where many workplaces were destroyed in the deadly Feb. 6 quakes, some shopkeepers did not lose hope and are starting afresh, with an aim to boost the morale of quake survivors who lost everything.

Saying that they aim to return to the pre-disaster days, these shopkeepers have turned the boulevards in their neighborhoods into open-air markets, selling the products they were able to salvage from their damaged shops from their newly-opened stalls.

Two of those shopkeepers are brothers Cebrail and Muhammet Kolcu. Saying that they have started selling the items they were able to recover from their clothing stores at much more affordable prices, the Kolcu brothers said that their purpose is to make people feel better.

The brothers state that, at some point, life should slowly return to normal, and even though most of the citizens have lost their homes, there are still people who buy clothes for charity while passing by.

Ramazan Toprak, whose houses and shop were severely damaged in the earthquakes, stated that leaving their city was not a solution.

“I open my shop every day, irrespective of whether I can make a sale. People left their properties, their cars and everything, and many moved to other provinces. But still, we have to open our shops and provide service for the remaining citizens,” Toprak said.