Gaziantep Tradesmen Craftsmen and Chambers Association (GESOB) Chairman İsmet Özcan requested that the checks written by the tradesmen in the 10 provinces where the earthquake disaster occurred be postponed and that the tradesmen be given a long-term and interest-free loan of 100 Thousand TL in the first place.

While Turkey is trying to heal its wounds after the earthquake, Gaziantep Chamber of Tradesmen and Craftsmen President İsmet Özcan, who made evaluations about the economic dimension of the earthquake and the business world in the region, pointed out that there is a need for interest-free loans in the region.

Stating that the people most affected by the earthquake were the tradesmen, Özcan said, “The tradesmen lost their lives, property, workplace, capital, family and customers. Currently, our Bağ-Kur insurance and loans have been postponed for 3 months; But we will not print money after 3 months. We won't have any money again after 3 months. The government needs to give us an interest-free loan of 100,000 TL for a long time. They should do something like the grant they made during the pandemic. Otherwise, the tradesman cannot stand up. Our tradesmen cannot open their damaged workplaces. The renovation of damaged workplaces and the demolition of damaged buildings have left our tradesmen in a financial and moral difficult situation. "We must support us to prevent the people here from migrating," he said.

Reminding that Gaziantep is currently exempt from short-time working allowance, Özcan said that there should be the same practices in the 11 provinces within the scope of the state of emergency and there should be no discrimination.

Özcan also pointed out that the houses in the region, which were 5 thousand TL before the earthquake, are now 12 thousand TL.