Turkey’s operation in Syria causing it economic losses

Mohamed Abdel Ghaffar

The world has been expressing opposition to the ongoing Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria, especially after everybody had realized that the operation is driven by the plans of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to occupy this part of Syria.

The Turkish regime has shown nothing in the face of this opposition but defiance. Nevertheless, Turkey seems to be in for a new type of problems because of its operation in northeastern Syria.

The new type of problems is an economic one. The labor union of the German automaker Volkswagon turned down a plan by the company to invest $1.4 billion in the construction of a factory in Turkey. The union said in a statement that it would continue to oppose the construction of the new factory until the Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria comes to an end.

“I want to say very clearly: the labor representatives repudiate approval as long as Turkey tries to reach its political goals with war and force,” VW’s global works council chief and supervisory board member Bernd Osterloh said in remarks published in a staff newspaper seen by Bloomberg.

A member of the labor union of the company ruled out the possibility of constructing the factory in the Turkish city of Izmir. He described the reports and the images coming from Syria as “terrifying”.

Turkey, he said, has to stop the onslaught on northeastern Syria so that we can think against of constructing the factory.

The same member said the attack violates international laws and opens the door wide for a new wave of refugees.

We cannot imagine investing billions of Euros in a country like this, he said.

The German automaker had succumbed to the desire of its labor union and said it would delay the construction of the factory in Turkey.

Volkswagon added that it would closely monitor the situation in Turkey.

Recession

The decision of the German automaker compounds the economic difficulties facing Turkey at present. The Turkish lira lost 30% of its value in 2018 and an additional 15% this year.

This comes against the background of the new custom duties the US imposed on steel and aluminum imports from other countries.