Shopkeepers in Hatay strive for recovery post-twin quakes

HATAY

Shopkeepers and small businesses in the southern province of quake-hit Hatay’s Antakya district attempt to navigate the challenging path of survival as they try to earn their livelihoods in 25 square meter container shops.

Thousands of people lost their lives and thousands of buildings collapsed in the district, including businesses, in the devastating earthquakes that rattled 11 provinces in the country's southeast on Feb. 6 last year.

A container market was set up with 219 container shops of 25 square meters for shopkeepers whose workplaces were destroyed in the quake. However, only 130 of the container shops located at various points in Antakya are actively serving their customers.

One year after the earthquake, shopkeepers are struggling to earn their livelihoods under difficult conditions.

"We lost everything and we are trying to hold on to life again, but nothing is the same and it will never be. We opened our shops so that Antakya could survive. We have not gained anything, there is a serious financial loss," said Mete Erdahan, who owns a shop in the container market.

Şahan İnanç complained that Hatay was left unattended, while Mehmet Akay said, "If something starts to be done here, it will have a positive effect on the mental health of the people. The biggest problem is still security. Theft continues, doors and cables of buildings waiting to be demolished or reinforced by court order are stolen."

Hasan Duman, who owned an herbal seed shop in the historical Uzun Bazaar, now sells his products at the stall he set up in front of the rubbles of his shop.

"This shop has been here since 1974. My father ran it first, and I have been running it for more than 30 years, but now there is a huge wreck behind me," Duman said.

Mehmet Balıkçı stated that his shoe shop in Uzun Bazaar was heavily damaged and said that despite its historical importance, piles of rubble still remain in the bazaar.