Greeks and Bulgarians are flocking to a border town in north-western Turkey, travelling by bus, car, motorbike or even on foot in order to shop in Edirne, their purchasing power bolstered by the battered lira.
The main attraction is Ulus Pazari, a market with about 150 stalls in Edirne, which is seven kilometres from the Greek border and 17 kilometres from Bulgaria.
They're here to buy clothes, shoes, handbags and wallets, perfumes, homes accessories, cleaning products, even fruits, vegetables and fish.
One stall has Nike, Puma and Adidas tracksuits and jackets piled several feet high. The owner, waving around a sign in Greek, assures they are genuine. Another has handbags and wallets with Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Fendi monograms, which almost look like the real deal.
"People are happy with the demand from neighbouring countries. The weak lira helped businesses in Edirne stand on their own feet," says
Bulent Reisoglu, the chairman of Upek, a market association based in Istanbul, 250 kilometres east of Edirne.
Customer-friendly Edirne has embraced its Greek and Bulgarian visitors: Walk around the cobbled streets of the historic town centre and you see signs in Greek and Bulgarian - with national flags - everywhere, from pastry shops to the vendor selling boiled corn, from banks to the post office.
The number of foreign visitors has risen since August, when the Turkish lira hit record lows, at one point plunging to 7.9 against the euro and 4 versus the Bulgarian lev.
The Turkish lira has lost more than 40 per cent of its value against the dollar since the start of the year, partly because of a diplomatic spat and trade row with the United States over a number of issues and investors' concerns about the central bank's independence.
The lira is recouping, but the demand from cross-border shoppers has remained high, encouraging savvy store owners to make shopping lists in Greek and Bulgarian.
"Greeks and Bulgarians spend more than ever thanks to low prices. So everyone wins," Reisoglu says, adding that the number of visitors has doubled since the summer and that Friday shoppers often stay the weekend, which boosts local hotels and restaurants.
Upek has distributed mini dictionaries in Greek and Bulgarian to help the market's 350 salespeople better communicate.
More than 100 shopkeepers and public sector employees, such as border police and bank workers, have been taking Greek and Bulgarian language classes since November, says Recep Zipkinkurt, the head of Edirne's Chamber of Trade and Commerce.
Every Friday, Elena comes to the market by bus from Bulgaria. "I buy fruits and vegetables weekly, and lingerie and clothes for a few months for my shop," she says. "I can pay in lev, which is great."
Even on a rain-swept, grey and chilly day, the market lights up with Hadi Tekin's act. Dressed triumphantly from head to toe in socks of all sizes and colours, he rallies the crowds by shouting alternately in Greek and Bulgarian - greetings he has listed on a rolled-up chart.
"I am learning the languages, but slowly. Hopefully, we will communicate with our neighbours better soon," says Tekin, 62, also known as "Mickey Mouse" because of his floppy sock ears.
"We do not even need to advertise," says Reisoglu, adding that shoppers are drawn here by word of mouth.
Every Friday, about 150 salespeople from Istanbul travel to Edirne, their trucks loaded with products.
Ali Ihsan, who sells leather goods, says: "Our sales have doubled since the summer." There's a lot of faux leather on display too, and coats he claims are made of rabbit fur.
Samet Tuncer, who deals in textile products, says: "Forty per cent of my customers buy in bulk to later sell in their countries. Seventy per cent of all my customers are from Bulgaria."
"I'm here for the first time, but I can see that people are very friendly. I think you can find a lot of things and I will come back next week," says a Bulgarian woman shopping with her mother for leather accessories. "We heard about this place from friends who come here every weekend."
Edirne Mayor Recep Gurkan tells dpa of plans to release a smartphone app and open 16 kiosks across the town centre with city guides in
English and Bulgarian by February. And then there's the food. Edirne is famous for its fried liver - wafer-thin slivers rolled in flour and fried to a crisp, as well as kavala kurabiyesi, a buttery almond cookie with a shared heritage from Greece.
There's comforting gozleme too for shoppers braving the winter chill.
As Kadriye rolls out the traditional stuffed Turkish pancakes, she says: "Business has thrived ... Greek and Bulgarian guests buy our pastry products by the kilogramme."
A line forms as she prepares cheese gozleme on her portable stove.
There's mincemeat and potato stuffing too, and each gozleme costs a mere 10 liras.
"I used to sell produce, but I switched to this business because of increased demand," says Kadriye, who also makes baklava, the decadent dessert of filo layers, nuts and honey.
Comments
Comments are closed.