‘They Don’t Support You Because You are “Small Business Owner”, But Levy Taxes’

* Helmeli announced its temporary closure with the above announcement.

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"I am about to go out now, I will pay the withholding tax. It had been a month since we opened the restaurant, we had to close due to coronavirus. We have closed the restaurant, we don't have any income. But the state doesn't stand and stare. It asks for its taxes..."

It is Özlem Çalışkan who is speaking.

She is running the "Helmeli" homemade food restaurant in Kağıthane, İstanbul with her brother. "Helmeli" is located in an area with a dense working population in İstanbul, where the majority are white-collar workers.

As her brother studied cooking, they decided to open this restaurant, thinking, "One of us is educated and the other self-educated."

Çalışkan was a domestic worker at other people's houses for years. She says that she felt stronger when she took her brother along with her when chasing her "dream for opening a restaurant."

Calls for support have remained inconclusive

As they did not have the capital to open the restaurant, they applied to the Small and Medium Industry Development Organization (KOSGEB). However, they could not receive any support from the organization. They applied for a loan, which also remained inconclusive.

"While you are trying to stand on your own feet as a woman, thinking of cooking and selling homemade food, you are not supported at all, which - in fact - summarizes the attitude towards women's labor in this country," she says and adds that they could open "Helmeli" with borrowed money.

"Helmeli" means "cooked to a turn," Çalışkan tells us and indicates that though they could finally open the restaurant and start to work, they had to close it due to the coronavirus outbreak before they could find the opportunity to introduce themselves to their potential customers.

'Small business owners are not supported'

"No one supports women", says Çalışkan and adds:

"They say on televisions everyday that they are supporting business owners, but there is no one supporting us.

"Postponing the payment of bills does not mean anything, either. If a person does not have money to pay it now, how do they think they will have it three months later? And, to top it all, the restaurant is closed, we are not working. It is not possible to pay the rent or taxes without working.

"They do not support us, saying 'You are a small business owner.' But they collect the taxes by treating us as business owners. I do not know how to put it into words, either. We are really overwhelmed."

'The end of small business owners is imminent'

Çalışkan also criticizes the media:

"The media is constantly reporting news and saying, 'Don't go to places that serve homemade food' or 'Don't eat outside.' If it goes on like this, no one will eat outside even if the virus comes to an end. I think, the end of small business owners like us will come like this."

'I believe in women's solidarity'

Çalışkan underlines that a way out of this process is only possible with women's solidarity. She concludes her remarks with this emphasis:

"There are so many women like me. We have to support one another. Will we order something? I can cook and bring this food. There can be such supports. We can overcome these days if there is women's solidarity..."

There are 298,113 women business owners in Turkey

According to the figures shared by the Confederation of Business Owners and Artisans of Turkey (TESK), as of February 29, 2020, there were 298 thousand 113 women business owners across Turkey, accounting for 16.34 of all business owners.(EMK/SD)