Escalating violence hits insurance sector in Turkey

ISTANBUL

AA photo

Insurance experts have complained about their inability to visit Turkey’s eastern region for damage assessment amid escalating violence. 

Sector representatives said they are concerned for their safety and ask for help from security forces to do their jobs in the region. 

With escalating violence, hundreds of vehicles and workplaces have been burnt down in the region. This has increased the applications to insurance companies for damage assessment, especially from transportation and construction companies in the region. Insurance experts, however, can barely access the damaged sites for assessments, according to sector sources. 

Damage controls by the insurance companies are made through the provinces of Van, Urfa and Diyarbakır, said sources. Damage assessments in other provinces of the region are carried out in one-day visits from these three base cities. Experts, however, have been unable to make these visits for the past few weeks. 

“As we have no life safety, we cannot make any damage assessments....Roads are full of burned vehicles,” said a sector source. 

The source added that some roads are already closed to traffic and security forces do not let anyone use them. 

“Our biggest fear is being stopped by the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) militants for an ID check,” said the source.