Nearly 100,000 small businesses went bankrupt in Turkey in 2020

Photo: AA

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Some 99,588 small businesses were closed in Turkey last year, an opposition MP said, citing the Registry Gazette of Tradespeople and Artisans of Turkey.

According to the gazette, 80,166 tradespeople got their businesses removed from registries and 19,422 carried out the procedures for abandoning the profession.

In 2019, the number of closed businesses was 114,000.

"We advise President [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan ... to not only listen to his friends but also to get out of his palace and listen to the problems of the tradespeople, how they are suffering under rents, bills and taxes," said Veli Ağbaba the vice-chair of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

The five cities with the highest number of closed businesses were İstanbul (9,587), İzmir (6,537), Ankara (5,586), Antalya (4,735) and Bursa (3,993), Ağbaba noted.

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(HA/VK)