Police struggles to keep peddlers away in Turkey's Konya

KONYA - Hürriyet

Barricades were put up by police forces in Central Anatolian Konya to prevent peddlers from opening benches in front of stores at city’s square.

Turkish police have set up iron barricades in the Central Anatolian province of Konya to prevent peddlers from selling their goods on the pedestrian paths in the city center.

Police, who could not stop peddlers from opening their benches in front of the stores located in Konya’s city center just before the Ramadan Holiday for years, found the solution in building police barricades and patrolling before them.

The barricades were set up a week ago at the square in front of the office of the Konya governor and the Aziziye Mosque, where peddlers had been selling their goods for years.

A shopkeeper in downtown Konya, who wanted to remain anonymous, said they were happy about the practice.

“We pay our tax and our rent but our shop fronts were occupied with peddlers during the holidays [bayram] when we are supposed to have our busiest days. We are happy about the implementation,” the shopkeeper said, adding that on the other hand the scenery did not look very pleasant as customers asked if there were protests in the square.