The recent collapse of the exchange rate of the Turkish lira against the dollar has put Syrians in the areas of Turkish influence and the Syrian opposition, northwestern Syria, in a new economic and living dilemma, in direct confrontation with the high and fluctuating prices of medicines, food, industrial commodities and fuel, with a significant decline in the purchasing and labor movement.
In June 2020, the Syrians in the areas of Turkish influence in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib, northwestern Syria, began to deal in the Turkish lira instead of its Syrian counterpart, which at that time witnessed a major collapse against the dollar. This collapse caused great losses among merchants, industrialists in the region, employees and workers. Apparently, the Syrians' choice of the Turkish currency was not successful, as its value quickly began to decline and collapse in stages against the dollar, until its value recently declined to about 40 percent (26 pounds against one dollar), which led to the deterioration of the already fragile economic situation in the northwestern regions of Syria, and a significant increase in the prices of commodities and medicines, while there has been no improvement in the wages and salaries of workers and employees in the private and public sectors.
And while the value of the Turkish lira is falling against the dollar, all workers and employees in government departments, doctors and military personnel, receive their wages and salaries in Turkish lira. Since the start of the Turkish election campaigns in May, the Turkish lira has been witnessing unprecedented fluctuations in its exchange rate against the dollar, and its recent and record decline has had a sharp negative impact on the lives of employees who are paid in Turkish lira, while the employee’s salary does not exceed 2,000 Turkish lira, which is equivalent to 80 dollars. In a quick comparison between the salary and the costs of the daily life of the employee, the salary is only sufficient for a few days for the price of bread, baby milk, and very ordinary foods such as local vegetables. As for imported things, they are forbidden to locals, due to its high prices linked to the US dollar, such as fruits and medicines.
Faced with this situation, signs of poverty and destitution began to appear among a large number of employees due to the inability of their salaries to cover their family expenses, and some are forced to borrow from some of their colleagues to cover the price of an item that their family needs.
At the roundabout of the city of Al-Dana, north of Idlib, dozens of workers who practice daily work (moving stones, building, picking fruits, farming, and agriculture) complain about the deterioration of their economic conditions, after the decline in the value of the Turkish lira, while the value of wages remains the same. They stated that the most oppressed group in northwestern Syria in front of the fluctuations and decline of the Turkish lira are the workers. The average daily income of a worker is 50 Turkish liras (equivalent to two dollars), and this amount is no longer sufficient except to buy two pieces of bread weighing 2 kilos and a stew of very ordinary vegetables without daring or looking at any kind of meat, as the price per kilo exceeded 200 Turkish liras.
The decline in the value of the Turkish lira and its reflection on the living and economic life of the residents of northwestern Syria come with the rise in poverty and misery in northern Syria. The poverty level has reached new levels, as families under the poverty line in northern Syria represent about 89.24 percent of the population, while the percentage of families who reached the hunger level reached 39.64 percent, according to the Syria Response Coordinators Organization, which is concerned with covering the humanitarian side in the northern and western region of Syria. In its report, it indicated that “more than 11,372 families lost their sources of income as a result of the recent earthquake that hit the region on the sixth of February, and the general unemployment rate reached 87.3 percent on average. Recently, the Turkish lira registered its lowest historical decline, recording 26.02 lira per dollar and even 28.02 lira per dollar.