Kobanê Case, a political trial

The 27th hearing in the Kobanê Case was held in Ankara.

ANF
ANKARA
Sunday, 6 Aug 2023, 08:30

The 27th hearing of the Kobanê Case was held in Ankara earlier this week.

The Kobanê Case was filed in 2020 against 108 people, including the HDP’s former co-chairs, Mr Selahattin Demirtaş and Ms Figen Yüksekdağ, current co-chair Ms Pervin Buldan, several current and former HDP deputies and mayors, and all the members of the HDP’s Central Executive Board of 2014.

This case was launched as a counter move by the Turkish government just two weeks after the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights made its final judgment demanding the immediate release of Selahattin Demirtaş. The indictment in the Kobanê Case is based on a Twitter message posted by the HDP on 6 October 2014. This called for democratic protests in solidarity with the people of Kobanê, the Kurdish town in Northern Syria that was fighting against the attacks of ISIS, and also against Turkey’s embargo on the town. The prosecutor is calling for all the defendants to be given aggravated life sentences (without parole) 38 times for the crimes of “destroying the unity of the state and the integrity of the country” and “premeditated murder” of the people who lost their lives in the Kobanê protests. Seventeen politicians are currently being held in pre-trial detention for this case.

The Kobanê case is closely linked with the closure case filed against the HDP, for which it serves as a pretext. In the closure case, the prosecution is mainly based on the alleged role and responsibility of the HDP in the murders that occurred during the Kobanê protests in 2014. We should stress that the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR has already examined these allegations in the case of Selahattin Demirtaş and concluded that neither Demirtaş nor the HDP had any responsibility for the murders.

Green Left Party co-spokesperson Ibrahim Akın said about the Kobanê Case that it is a "political conspiracy case" and underlined the attacks against Kobanê and the resistance put forward at that time.

Akın said: "International law has actually said that the statements made at the time of the invasion of Kobane were democratic expressions of opinion. This trial is illegal and unlawful. It is the result of the hostile policy of the palace regime. Our friends are not those prosecuted. Thanks to their defense, they are in fact openly prosecuting this unlawful trial. In other words, they are judging the AKP regime, the AKP authoritarian fascist regime.”

Akin said: "This case is a case made up for the closure of the HDP, as shown by the fact that it was opened 6 years after the alleged crime. Our friends have been in prison for almost 3 years. Keeping them in prison will do nothing but expose Turkey for what it is, a brutal regime. We are trying to resist. We will continue to seek our rights, establish justice, and fight for justice for everyone.

HDP/Green Left Party youth launches campaign against special war in Kurdistan

As part of the renewal process of the democratic opposition, the HDP/Green Left Party youth has launched an offensive against the special war in Kurdistan.

ANF
ANKARA
Monday, 7 Aug 2023, 07:49

After the controversial election victory of the AKP/MHP regime in Turkey, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the Green Left Party have initiated a comprehensive, far-reaching and long-term renewal process.

District and provincial federations of both parties held internal meetings and nationwide public rallies as a vehicle for criticism and self-criticism. Based on the constructive exchange with the grassroots, suggestions were developed as to how the change process could achieve a good result and be structurally anchored. The focus now is on planning symposiums, conferences and party congresses, and developing a roadmap for the final transformation of the democratic opposition.

The youth organizations of the HDP and the Green Left Party are traditionally regarded as the driving force behind social and political innovation and their implementation. They have the will to act as the backbone of transformation and to discourage any structures and methods that impede the renewal process. The youth councils of the HDP and the Green Left Party have been meeting in Ankara since Saturday to set their own timetable for the coming period.

In a first important step, a campaign was launched with the slogan "Li dijî şerê taybet têkoşînek bi heybet" ("Great Resistance Against the Special War"). The aim of the campaign is to counteract all elements of the complex and multifaceted special war carried out by the Turkish state, from ethnocide, colonial policy and forced assimilation to military violence, ecocide and femicide. The youth in Northern Kurdistan and Turkey are thus faced with a great challenge, which will demand a lot from everyone involved and which they can only successfully shape together in a solution-oriented manner.

Green Left Party youth council activist Senem Eriş spoke to ANF about the specific content and background of the campaign.

The war in Kurdistan is at the root of our many crises

He said: “The government's policy has meant that we live in a time when nature is being plundered, the will of the people and youth is being usurped by receivers, attacks on women and their achievements are increasing day by day, the work of working people is being exploited, violations of rights are increasing and the war is deepening.

This government 'package of measures' is directed against the interests of the people. As the greatest element in opposition to the population, war has a special role to play. Since 2015, the AKP/MHP regime has waged an ongoing war against the Kurdish people inside and outside the country's borders. This war is at the root of the many crises of our time."

The young activist continued: "The basis of the war policy is the isolation on Imrali that has lasted to this day. The absolute isolation imposed on the Kurdish representative Abdullah Öcalan brings war, and war brings poverty and misery. In this respect, it is not Abdullah Öcalan who is isolated on Imrali - it is the people of Turkey. Imrali is trying to suffocate the entire society of Turkey.

We affirm that we do not accept this policy of isolation, which is being pursued in the person of the Kurdish people's representative against all peoples of the Middle East, and that we will expand our organization for the freedom of the peoples and to overcome isolation."

The youth are subjected to an ideological bombardment

Eriş added: "While the AKP/MHP leadership on the one hand wants to intimidate society through repression, on the other hand it aims to detach the youth from their historical role through a special war policy. The special war against young people, especially the Kurdish ones, is being waged in a profound, multifaceted and systematic way.

Through soft methods such as sports and arts, TV series and news magazines, young people in this country are subjected to ideological bombardment.

In the last ten to fifteen years, the focus has been on television series that glorify structures such as the police, the military, the mafia and the nation-state. This is intended to impose false heroism, occupation, usurpation, plunder and exploitation on young people. They should be tied to false victories, power, nationalism and racism and become slaves of the system."

According to Eriş, "the most dangerous dimension of the special war is the spread of drugs and prostitution in society. Drug use in particular is promoted in order to manipulate young people and alienate them from politics. At the same time, cases of sexual harassment and rape of young women by uniformed perpetrators have increased. The cases of Gülistan Doku and Ipek Er clearly show us the politics against young women in Kurdistan. As young people, we will not remain silent and oppose all those who try to push our people into prostitution and drug use."

Eriş said that "the claim and the power to shape history on a revolutionary-democratic basis is the only true reality that determines and reminds of the historical mission of young people. Therefore, we are the ones who will light up this darkness and bring a free future to society. We took over the fight for freedom from comrades like Haki, Kemal, Mazlum and Ibrahim. By expanding our legacy of resistance, we will eliminate this system that hangs over the peoples like a dark cloud. We will change this system that youth in Kurdistan and Turkey are subjected to by taking responsibility."

Resisting corruption

Eriş added that they "announced to the entire public that we have launched the campaign 'Li dijî şerê taybet têkoşînek bi heybet' against all methods of special warfare. As youth councils of the HDP and Green Left Party, we will conduct our renewal process in the light of this campaign - and intensify the struggle in the coming period together with our left-wing, socialist and revolutionary comrades.

We will continue our resistance until we break Abdullah Öcalan's isolation. We will stand up against drugs, patriarchy, ecological depletion, cultural genocide and all kinds of ideological devices that corrupt youth and society. To this end, we call on all young people to organize and fight as part of our campaign against the special war.”

HONOUR(LESS) KILLINGS ARE FEMICIDE

23-year-old Yemeni woman killed by colleague because she refused to marry him

ANOTHER INCEL


Gulf Today Report

A 23-year-old woman was killed in a shopping centre in the Mansoura district of Aden, southern Yemen, in the latest horrific crime against women in the region.

Local media sources said that the young woman, Fatima Muhammad Omar (23), was stabbed with a knife by her colleague Mohsen Rashad Mohsen at the shopping centre

The police said one of the stab wounds was in the eye.

Media reported that the young woman died shortly after she was taken to a hospital.

Aden security forces announced the arrest of the suspect.

According to media sources, this horrific crime shook Yemeni society.

The young man who committed the crime said in preliminary confessions that it was due to love and emotion.

He said that he tried to propose to the victim, but she refused to accept him, so the jilted lover decided to kill her.

Shipwreck from 3rd century BC discovered northwest of Egypt

QNA

AUGUST 06, 2023 

Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the discovery of a shipwreck dating back to the third century BC, one of the sunken sites about 650 metres away in the governorate of Matrouh, northwest of Egypt.

In a statement, the Ministry explained that the discovery provided new evidence of the region's commercial, economic and tourism significance in the third century BC, which had many commercial ports.

The discovery included remnants of the ship's sunken timber and hundreds of clay monuments, the ministry said, adding that it is likely that the ship sank when it hit an island at the bottom of the sea during its commercial voyage.

According to the statement, studies conducted by the working group of the Egyptian archaeological mission revealed that this vessel shows the course of trade between Egypt and the Mediterranean countries, as the country's northern coast was home to about 30 villages, towns and ports during the Greek and Roman eras, the most important of which are the ports of Marsa Matrouh, Dhaba and Marina El Alamein. Those ports were stations on the way of ships coming from North Africa and southern Europe to Alexandria.

 Around 30 missing after two shipwrecks off Lampedusa

Coast Guard rescues 57 people, recovers two bodies

- RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA

Redazione ANSAROME
06 August 2023

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 6 - Around 30 people were reported to be missing early on Sunday after two shipwrecks overnight off the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The Coast Guard rescued 57 migrants and recovered two bodies, those of a woman and a child.
International Organization for Migration (IOM) cultural mediations spoke to the survivors who reported that two boats had sunk.

The first is said to have had 48 people on board, 45 of whom were saved with three unaccounted for.
The second was carrying 42 people from Sub-Saharan African, 14 of whom were picked up. Photo: an archive image of a Coast Guard boat with migrants.

(ANSA).

Two dead, 57 rescued from migrant shipwrecks off Italy’s Lampedusa

Migrants on board to Lampedusa island, in central Mediterranean Sea, close to Lampedusa island, Italy. File/Reuters

Italy's coastguard said on Sunday it had recovered two bodies and rescued 57 people off the southern island of Lampedusa, amid reports that more than 30 people were missing following two shipwrecks.

The Ansa news agency, citing survivors' accounts, reported that two migrant boats that had set off from the port of Sfax, a hotspot for Tunisia's migration crisis, had sunk on Saturday on their way to Europe.

One was carrying 48 people, the second 42, Ansa said, adding that the coastguard found the survivors about 23 nautical miles (46 km) south-west of Lampedusa, as well as the two victims - a woman from Ivory Coast and her one-year-old child.

A coastguard spokesperson said he could only confirm the number of survivors and the recovery of two bodies.

More than 2,000 people have arrived in Lampedusa in the last few days after being rescued at sea by Italian patrol boats and NGO groups, as strong winds further complicate the situation around the island.

About 20 migrants have been stuck since Friday on a cliff after their boat crashed against rocks upon arrival in Lampedusa, with the coastguard unable to reach them via sea or helicopter, local media said.

On Sunday, NGO group Open Arms wrote on social media X that it had finally begun disembarking 195 rescued sea migrants in the southern Italian port of Brindisi after more than two days of sailing in rough seas.

Italy's right-wing government has adopted a policy of assigning far-away ports to charity ships, rather than letting them disembark rescued migrants in nearer Lampedusa or Sicily, with the aim of spreading arrivals across the country.

NGOs complain that this increases their navigation costs, prolongs the misery of survivors, and reduces the amount of time charity ships can patrol the areas of the Mediterranean where shipwrecks are more common.

Italy is experiencing a sharp surge in sea migration, with almost 92,000 arrivals recorded far this year, according to interior ministry data last updated on Friday, compared to more than 42,600 in the same period in 2022.

Reuters

HEY PARIS CLEAN UP YOUR ACT
Pre-Olympics swimming race in River Seine cancelled due to dirty water

A pre-Olympics swimming test competition due to take place Sunday in the River Seine in Paris has been cancelled due to pollution, the international swimming federation said after analysis of the latest water samples.


 06/08/2023 

A crane on the river Seine in Paris dismantles the temporary venue to host a pre-Olympic swimming test competition after the event was cancelled due to pollution, on 6 August 2023. 

© AFP - BERTRAND GUAY

Text by: RFI

Following recent heavy rainfall, "water quality in the Seine has remained below acceptable standards for safeguarding swimmers' health", World Aquatics said in a statement on Sunday.

"Based on this weekend, it is clear that further work is needed with Paris 2024 and local authorities to ensure robust contingency plans are in place for next year."

A training session on Friday had already been cancelled and the women's race was postponed from Saturday to Sunday in the hope the water quality would improve.

Heavy rains for the past week in Paris have caused sewers to overflow, polluting the Seine.

Clean-up ongoing

"World Aquatics is disappointed that water quality in the Seine has resulted in the cancellation of the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup, but the health of our athletes must always be our top priority," said World Aquatics president Husain Al Musallam.

The federation said it "understands that further infrastructure projects will be completed to significantly improve water quality in the Seine in the lead-up to next year’s Olympic Games"

.Turning the tide: Olympic organisers hope to make murky Seine swimmable again

The organisers of the 2024 Paris Olympics have plans in place to allow them to postpone open-water swimming events by two or three days in the event of storms and heavy rain.

"With one year to go before the Games, the sanitation dynamic is continuing, with the most significant water quality improvement works due to be completed in the coming months, in particular to cope with these exceptional meteorological events," said a joint statement earlier in the week from the Olympics Organising Committee, Paris City Hall and the Ile-de-France region.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has promised to make swimming in the Seine open to all from 2025, on three sites where swimming has been prohibited since 1923.

China's economic losses from natural disasters surge to billions, adding more pressure to struggling economy

By Jenny Cai with wires

China is suffering heavy economic loss from recent natural disasters due to severe weather. 

(AP: Ng Han Guan)

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake has struck eastern China as rain continued to pelt the north-eastern regions in the wake of Typhoon Doksuri, adding more pressure to the country's struggle to recover its economy from the COVID pandemic.

Key points:Analysis shows Chinese provinces occupy more than half of global top 50 list of states and provinces most at risk of climate-related disaster by 2050
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck eastern China as flooding continues in the north-eastern regions
The impact of floods, while common in China in summer, has grown more pronounced this year

China's direct economic losses from natural disasters surged to 41.18 billion yuan ($8.72billion) in July, more than in January to June combined.

The impact of floods, while common in China in summer, has grown more pronounced this year, affecting over 7 million people nationwide in July, when Beijing was struck by the worst rains in 140 years.

Meanwhile, scorching summer heat and drought are threatening crops in other regions after the capital's hottest June on record.

August, when rainfall usually peaks and temperatures soar, is set for further economic impact from floods and heatwaves.

Rainfall in north-eastern provinces could be as much as 50 per cent higher than normal in August, China's national forecaster have warned.

Shi Heling, an economic professor at Monash University, said impact of recent natural disasters had dealt a "huge blow" to China's economy.

 
Professor Shi Heling said recent natural disasters had significant negative impacts on China's economy recovery from the pandemic. (Supplied)

"China's governments at all levels are already running in deficits due to costs during the three years of COVID-zero policies that used up the governments' savings."

"The floods happened at the North China Plain, where there are lots of farmlands. The crops were submerged by the floods and will lead to shortage of many products."


"The disasters happened at a really bad timing. China's economy is going downwards currently, and natural disasters would have huge impacts on people's lives."

The economic losses posed an unexpected drag on quarterly growth in the world's second-largest economy, which is already in want of stimulus as Chinese officials just rolled out a series of policy measures in recent weeks to support the economy as its post-pandemic recovery falters.

Professor Shi said the authorities were also ill-prepared to deal with the flood and subsequent impacts, as the North China Plain were rarely hit by floods before.

Why China's economy isn't recovering fast enough

Australia is relying on its largest trading partner to bounce back, but China's youth unemployment figures and low consumer confidence are slowing down much-needed growth, suggesting a full recovery will take some time.

"Most floods usually hit the southern regions near the Yellow River and Chang Jiang River ... so another reason that the damages were so huge this time was that the local officials didn't know how to respond [to the floods]," he said.

Professor Shi added that the floods may also pose a negative impact on Australia's economy, which heavily relies on exports to China, its largest trading partner.

"Many Chinese consumers may not have the abilities to consume the imported products from Australia anymore.

"China imports a lot of iron ore from Australia for building infrastructure, the government may not be able to invest as much in infrastructure if the finance is tight," Professor Shi said.

July losses from Typhoon Talim, which landed in southern China in the middle of the month, were 2.61 billion yuan ($600 million), the Ministry of Emergency Management said in a statement late on Friday.

Losses from the more destructive Doksuri reached $3.15 billion as of the end of July, the ministry said.

According to an analysis by Sydney based research firm XDI, Chinese provinces occupy more than half of global top 50 list of states and provinces most at risk of climate-related disaster by 2050.

Two of China's largest economic powerhouses, Jiangsu and Shandong, would be the most vulnerable places in the world to climate risks, according to the research.

YOUTUBEchina economy video
Earthquake hits eastern China as flood continues

Twenty-one people were injured and 126 buildings collapsed after an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 struck the eastern Chinese province of Shandong on Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The earthquake, 10km deep, jolted Pingyuan County of Dezhou City at 02:33am local time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre.

China Railway Group suspended some train operations on routes including the Beijing-Shanghai Railway and Beijing-Kowloon Railway in response to the earthquake, CCTV reported.

People gather on a street in Liaocheng, China's eastern Shandong province following an earthquake. (AFP/STR)

TV broadcasters showed Dezhou residents who ran outdoors after the quake sitting on sidewalks in the pre-dawn darkness. Video on social media showed bricks that had fallen from cracked walls.

Dezhou and the surrounding area administered by the city have about 5.6 million people, according to the city government website.

Authorities in northeastern China raised their emergency response level on Sunday as tributaries of the Songhua, a major river, rose to dangerous levels after days of heavy rain caused by Typhoon Doksuri

.
People stay on a roof at a flooded residential compound after the rains and floods brought by remnants of Typhoon Doksuri, in Zhuozhou, Hebei province.(Reuters: Tingshu Wang)

China's Ministry of Water Resources said it raised the response for flooding to Level III at 10am local time in Inner Mongolia, Jilin and Heilongjiang.

China uses a four-tier emergency response system, with Level I the most urgent.

Heilongjiang, known as China's "great northern granary", is among the latest areas to suffer the aftermath of Doksuri, which has killed at least 20 people, displaced thousands and flooded Beijing and several other cities since it made landfall in the south a week ago.

China on Sunday allocated an additional 350 million yuan ($74.13 million) to support rescues and house repairs in the flood-hit regions including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Heilongjiang and Jilin, according to a government statement.

The government had previously allocated $36 million for rescue and recovery work.

WATCH
Duration: 1 minute 33 seconds

Extreme flooding leaves at least 20 people dead in China
ABC/wires

Palestine sends letters to UN officials on occupation's ongoing crimes against Palestinian people

QNA

 AUGUST 06, 2023 |

The Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations Ambassador Riyad Mansour has sent three identical letters to the UN Secretary-General, the President of the UN Security Council for this month (the United States), and the President of the UN General Assembly, demanding an end to the ongoing human rights abuses, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel, the occupying power, against the Palestinian people.

In his letters, Mansour urged the international community, including the Security Council, to immediately intervene in line with international law, including relevant United Nations resolutions, to provide protection to the Palestinian people, especially children whose lives are at grave risk due to this illegal Israeli colonial occupation and apartheid, according to (WAFA) news agency.

He stressed the importance of providing the protection that all civilians are entitled to under international humanitarian law and UN resolutions, including Resolution 904, which called on Israel to "confiscate arms, with the aim of preventing illegal acts of violence by Israeli settlers."

Mansour also called for taking measures to ensure the safety and protection of Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories, including a temporary international presence.

People of Raqqa protest the isolation of Öcalan

People of Raqqa took to the streets to denounce the aggravated isolation imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan on the Turkish prison island of Imrali.

ANF
RAQQA
Sunday, 6 Aug 2023, 15:58

Concerns over the situation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan increased after the Executive Council Member of the Kurdistan Democratic Communities Union (KCK), Sabri Ok said in an interview on the Kurdish TV Channel Sterk TV on July 8 that threatening letters had recently been sent to Abdullah Öcalan anonymously via the Imrali prison administration.

Lawyers are requesting to meet with Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan twice a week. However, applications for visits are systematically left unanswered. In some cases, months later, lawyers are informed that disciplinary action has been taken against the Kurdish people's leader and therefore no visit can be granted.

In its annual report about rights violations in Turkish prisons, the Human Rights Association (IHD) stated that Öcalan has not been heard from for 29 months.

The Syrian Revolutionary Youth Movement and Young Women’s Union in Raqqa organised a march in protest at the aggravated isolation of Öcalan.

Hundreds of people from Raqqa and its countryside attended the march, as well as members of civil and military councils, representatives of political parties and çivil society organizations.

Following the march from Raqqa Children’s Hospital to the Women’s Square (Qada Jinê), a press statement was made on behalf of the demonstrators, read out by Mihemed Elî, a member of the Syrian Revolutionary Youth Movement.

Elî condemned the isolation of Öcalan, which, he said, was implemented in line with the plans of disruption and occupation in the Middle East.

“Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s freedom is our freedom. For this very reason, we pledge to continue our struggle until his physical freedom is achieved,” Elî said.

CONSTRUCTING CAPITALI$M
TURKIYE
Crisis of construction sector deepening

The crisis experienced by the construction sector, which has been functioning as the locomotive of the Turkish economy in recent years, is deepening.

ANF
ISTANBUL
Sunday, 6 Aug 2023

The AKP government used the construction industry illegally to increase its political power, to maintain its power and, at the same time, to increase its personal wealth. The AKP dragged both the industry and the country into political and economic disaster. The construction sector, which was the locomotive of the Turkish economy in recent years, is also experiencing a deep crisis. The AKP wanted to end or minimize all kinds of production mechanisms except the war economy.

Producing society is also a questioning society. And this was a problem for the AKP government, which invented different mechanisms to avoid any social confrontation. In recent years, the contraction process in the construction sector has accelerated due to the effects of developments in the world (such as the Covid pandemic and war). The uncertainty and contraction in a sector with high employment capacity, actually meant that unemployment in the construction sector reached its peak. This caused hundreds of thousands of workers to become unemployed, forcing many to emigrate.

While there was a partial activity in the construction sector of the coastal areas as a result of the increasing demands of foreigners to acquire property, the sector came to a standstill, especially in Kurdistan and many provinces of Anatolia, with the increase in input costs and the deepening of the economic crisis.

The contraction in the construction sector has been continuing for the last 5-6 years. When the data of TURKSTAT and the professional chambers of each province are examined, it is possible to see that the construction sector is completely at a standstill. Employers working in the field of construction point out that the sector has been inflated by the AKP to create capital, rather than social needs, and state resources have been used for this purpose, especially in the last 15 years.

A contractor interviewed by ANF about the situation in the construction industry and who does not want his name to be given, summarized the situation in the industry as follows: “Resources have to be transferred for many years to projects such as roads, hospitals, airports, bridges and similar projects built with this model. In doing so, the government created a capital group of its own. It has a capital group at its disposal that it can use as it wishes when it needs it. Especially in elections, important tasks fall on this group. It met the electoral economy it needed in cities outside the metropolises by using these groups. It should not be forgotten that the construction sector is a sensitive sector that can shrink very quickly as well as grow quickly. At this point, the sector, which has entered the process of contraction due to the improper use of economic resources, will continue to shrink as it will not be able to provide stability unless there is a political change in management.”

Sector shrinking

Underlining that the contractors who have been doing business with the public for a long time have problems with their progress payments, the contractor said: “It does not seem possible for the segments that feed the government (economic and political) and that are fed by the government (power and economy) to be affected by this problem. The affected segment is the laborers without unions, who are condemned to lack of job security, low wages, small-sized contracting firms and small-scale subcontractors working for large firms.

With the courage given by the political uncertainty before the elections, even participation in many public tenders could not be achieved. Unemployment reached its peak when the public works came to a standstill and the irregularity in the payments in the ongoing works caused the works to come to a standstill and partially to slow down. The sector has affected the general unemployment rate in proportion to its economic size.”

Housing prices increase

Connecting the rise in housing prices and rents to the results of the collapsed economy, the contractor said: “There has been a tremendous production problem in housing in recent years. This sector is experiencing the reflections of the state of the country's economy at a peak level. In other words, since the supply could not be stabilized, the accumulated demand became unmet. The deepening crisis continues to grow by the day. They could not find a solution to the deepening crisis by providing resources. They ignored the warnings of the economists, causing the crisis to deepen. The vast majority of the country continues to experience this crisis to the bone. As in all sectors, the construction industry does not seem likely to recover quickly. As a matter of fact, we are far from a solution that can stop the price increases of houses, which are supplied in very few numbers, and thus prevent the increase in rents. All in all, yesterday was better than today.”

Foreign investment meant temporary recovery in coastal areas

Stating that the construction sector in the coastal areas is partially active due to excessive acquisition of property by foreigners compared to Kurdistan and other interior regions, the contractor explained: “The construction seems more lively in coastal areas. However, this is a temporary situation. It is a fact that the rich in Ukraine, Russia and Syria, especially due to the war, see the coastline as a safer region. These people acquire property in coastal areas. They are more in demand because they can be acquired without any problems. In recent years, there has been a movement due to the preferences of those who come from abroad and launder money. But now we can say that the bottom of it has come to an end.”

Stating that construction works such as dams, airports and city hospitals, which are carried out under the name of infrastructure, are planned for a single purpose, the contractor added: “Capital groups have been created to build and run these huge projects. These capital groups are also unofficial partners of the government. It is their own capital. These infrastructure projects are difficult to do in the country again. Because it doesn't seem possible with the current economic crisis. However, those who do these projects will be fed by the state for years. They will receive all the losses from the treasury of all the figures under the contract. But there is another unknown and unspoken problem. It is the repair of these gigantic projects. The repair of these huge projects will also put a serious burden on the treasury. Because these projects were built on unsuitable grounds with the understanding of rent. This will also have an extra economic burden.”