While Turkey was engaged in a battle with time searching for survivors and recovering victims from under the rubble left by the February 6 earthquake in the south of the country, the country was busy at the same time with an equally important battle over the rubble, to relieve the homeless who were left homeless by the earthquake. .

The natural disaster led to the destruction of more than 20,000 residential buildings, and turned twice that number into uninhabitable buildings, and while government relief organizations worked to erect tents and temporary housing, many of those affected went to other states where their relatives lived, which generated intense demand. on certain goods and services.

The Turkish economy in general was not immune from the devastating repercussions of the earthquake that struck 11 states that include an important part of the largest Turkish factories, especially Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş, which led to a decline in the Istanbul Stock Exchange index over a period of 3 days by about 15%.

As for the Turkish lira, it suffered a slight loss, as it immediately lost about 1% of its value against the US dollar, but it maintained its relative stability.

Experts believe that the measures taken by Ankara to contain the repercussions of the earthquake on the markets resulted in some stability, and they expected it to limit the total losses of the local economy.

Confidence measures

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced, since the first days that followed the earthquake, the allocation of a fund to finance search, rescue and relief work amounting to 100 billion liras (more than 5 billion dollars).

The economic affairs researcher at the Abaad Center for Strategic Studies said that the emergency allocations announced by the Turkish president are "the most important measure taken by the government to protect the market."

He added, in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, that "the amount was more than good, as it established the impression that the state would be present in all aspects of the crisis."

In its endeavor to instill more confidence in the economy and contain the damage, the Turkish government also announced a package of financial support for those affected by the earthquake, and revealed measures it had taken to stabilize the financial and commodity markets, especially those that witnessed intense demand.

As of February 15, the government began depositing 10,000 liras (equivalent to $530) into the account of the affected families, and announced earlier, through Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that it would provide housing for all those affected by the earthquake for a full year.


Protecting commodity and financial markets

On the other hand, the Turkish Ministry of Trade announced on February 10 that 353 companies had been fined 85 million liras due to exorbitant increases in prices for emergency needs after the earthquake.

The ministry stated that it had established an authority to assess unfair prices to prevent exorbitant price increases and monopolistic practices, and to prevent injustice to citizens due to these practices.

The list of items classified by the ministry as emergency needs included heating heaters, ready-made food parcels, blankets, raincoats, hygiene kits, hygiene kits for women and the elderly, sleeping bags, baby food, charging batteries, winter shoes and many other commodities.

The Ministry of Commerce also banned the export of container homes and prefabricated buildings for a period of 3 months in order to meet local needs and shelter those affected by the earthquake, and reduced the value-added tax on containers and modular homes for institutions and organizations related to disaster victims in earthquake areas from 18% to 1% until the end of the year.

Deniz Istikbal, a researcher in economic affairs at the Turkish Center for Political and Economic Studies (SITA), said that the fines imposed after the earthquake on commodity sellers came with the aim of enabling earthquake victims to easily access these products.

He added, in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, that some of the measures taken by the government prevented any crisis or panic after the earthquake, saying, "As a result of these measures, the response to earthquakes has become easier."

The Turkish government fined 353 companies 85 million liras due to exorbitant increases in prices for emergency needs after the earthquake (Al-Jazeera)

Contain the trauma internally

For his part, economist Jalal Bakkar confirmed that the Turkish economy was shocked after the earthquake, but the Turkish government tried to contain this shock by controlling the markets and stopping trading on some stocks on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

The Istanbul Stock Exchange index fell 16% within 3 days of the earthquake, which prompted the Istanbul Stock Exchange to take a decision to stop all transactions completely, after it partially stopped trading.

Bakkar, an economics and investment advisor, told Al-Jazeera Net that Turkey was able to contain the crisis internally, without the need to receive loans from international organizations, despite the damage the economy witnessed, especially at the level of production due to the suspension of work in some major cities and states. Turkish like Gaziantep.

Turkish Vice President Fuad Oktay vowed to punish those who raise rent prices after the earthquake, saying, "We will hold accountable those who raise rents, taking advantage of the needs of the people and the displaced from the earthquake areas. These actions will not go unpunished."

For his part, the governor of Gaziantep, Daoud Gül, announced that a ceiling would be set for house relocation fees within the state, to ensure that the demand of the displaced to move in certain directions does not turn into a reason for raising prices.

Two weeks after the devastating earthquake, the Turkish Central Bank updated its expectations for inflation figures for the end of this year to 35.76%, and raised its expectations for the price of the dollar to 22.84 liras.

The country witnessed a campaign launched by all the media in Turkey, Turkish Cyprus and Azerbaijan, which included a joint broadcast on Wednesday, February 14, during which donations were collected for the benefit of those affected by the earthquake, amounting to about $ 6 billion.