Eid Al Fitr, known as the “sugar feast” in Turkey, is usually a boom time for Istanbul’s Altan Sekerli, which sells its own traditional Ottoman-style sweets flavoured with rose water, cinnamon and melon.
But this year, a severe snap Covid-19 lockdown is threatening the survival of the city’s decades-old independent businesses.
Established in 1865, the family-run shop has weathered the fall of an empire, the establishment of a republic and the rise and fall of sultans and elected leaders.
But now, with an economy in decline and no financial support from the government on the horizon, things have never been more difficult.
On Thursday evening, Turkey will head into a 17-day lockdown, the most extreme measure the country has taken so far as part of efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19.
I don't have anything else to do, I'll just stay home
In recent weeks, it reported record case numbers, peaking at more than 63,000 daily in mid-April.
Critics say the government was too fast to come out of its earlier restrictions in March, causing unnecessary loss of lives.
Almost 40,000 people have died from the coronavirus in Turkey.
Residents will have to stay indoors except for essential shopping trips and urgent medical treatment, although supermarkets will be allowed to open six days a week.
The move leaves many small and independent businesses, which rely on the festive boost brought by Eid sales, in fear of how they will cope with the closure.
“It’s good to close because there is a Covid problem but maybe it could be managed better and done after Ramadan," said Derya Sosyal, who works at Altan Sekerli.
"A lot of this area already made preparations for Eid."
Ms Sosyal prepares most of the Altan Sekerli sweets herself in a workshop above the shop, including lokum, or Turkish delight, and akide hard candy.
“We have been preparing for the holidays and now the stock will be wasted, we probably won’t be able to sell everything,” she said.
The shop is in Kucukpazar, an old independent shopping area in Istanbul’s historic Eminonu district.
Ms Sosyal said that even if they could get permission to stay open, there would be no one on the streets to sell to anyway.
The business, which has been in the family for five generations, makes little money in the summer, so the loss of two and a half weeks of trade at the busiest time of year is devastating.
With the country facing inflation of more than 16 per cent and a steadily declining currency, the family in recent years suffered significant cuts to their profits.
This year, they turned 50 kilograms of sugar into sweets to sell, but they usually produce 100kg worth and transport the goods to shops all over Anatolia.
They had to make cutbacks to save money, letting two members of staff go and dipping into their savings.
“Our sales and profit margins have remained the same, despite the increase in our expenses," said Adem Altan, 63, whose family have passed the shop down the generations.
"Over the last five years, everything from natural gas to electricity has increased again and again in price."
Mr Altan said they stocked up on supplies before they knew lockdown would come.
“We took goods from companies for the holidays but we have no way to return them now so we are stuck with them.”
Altan Sekerli is just one of Turkey’s many independent businesses experiencing their worst year on record, while chain supermarkets will be allowed to continue to trade.
The International Monetary Fund found Turkey to be one of the worst three countries for offering Covid financial support to its people.
Opposition parties came out in force to say that they agree with the lockdown, but they do not agree with the lack of aid.
"Every household impacted by the lockdown should be granted cash aid of at least 1,000 liras [$120] an adult and 500 liras a child, without an application process or conditions," former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu and current Future Party leader said on Twitter.
Two weeks ago, Turkey brought forward its night-time curfew from 9pm to 7pm on weekdays, and reintroduced full weekend lockdowns.
But the measures were insufficient to bring the pandemic under control and medical groups urged tougher measures.
Owners of a tea shop a short walk from Altan Sekerli, which has been run for almost 60 years in a centuries-old caravanserai, said they have never seen worse profits than in the past year, with a local barber and a mirror seller agreeing.
“I don’t have anything else to do, I’ll just stay home,” said Ozturk, who runs the tea shop his father founded. “I don’t want this lockdown but what can I do?”
Among the hardest hit, however, are the informal workers who have neither a steady job nor a business to fall back on.
Mehmet, 35, a Kurdish waste collector and father of three from the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir, earns between 200 and 300 Turkish lira a week collecting cardboard and plasticto sell to the recycling plants.
He has already had his rates slashed and now he will be faced with more days without work.
“Even if I go out in the lockdown, there won’t be any waste to collect,” Mehmet said.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Red Sparrow
Dir: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Egerton, Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Irons
Three stars
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PRO%20MAX
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
WTL%20SCHEDULE
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Fifa Club World Cup:
When: December 6-16
Where: Games to take place at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi and Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain
Defending champions: Real Madrid
THREE
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What to watch out for:
Algae, waste coffee grounds and orange peels will be used in the pavilion's walls and gangways
The hulls of three ships will be used for the roof
The hulls will painted to make the largest Italian tricolour in the country’s history
Several pillars more than 20 metres high will support the structure
Roughly 15 tonnes of steel will be used
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
I Care A Lot
Directed by: J Blakeson
Starring: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage
3/5 stars
RACE CARD
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 – Group 1 (PA) $65,000 (Dirt) 2,000m
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (Turf) 1,800m
7.40pm: Meydan Classic – Listed (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,600m
8.15pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy – Group 3 (TB) $195,000 (T) 2,810m
8.50pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (T) 2,000m
9.25pm: Meydan Challenge – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,400m
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
Sun jukebox
Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)
This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.
Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)
The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)
Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.
Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.
Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)
An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)
Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
New Zealand T20 squad
New Zealand T20 squad: Tim Southee (captain), Finn Allen, Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wicketkeeper), Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Will Young
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 540hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 2,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Kerb weight: 1580kg
Price: From Dh750k
On sale: via special order
