Dispute with Russia decimates Zeytinburnu leather trade
29/02/2016
In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Zeytinburnu was a centre for leather production. These days, most of Istanbul’s tanneries are located across the Bosphorus in the Tuzla cluster but Zeytinburnu has maintained its ties to the leather industry, at least until now.
A year ago there were approximately 400 small-scale leather garment manufacturers in Zeytinburnu and around 600 wholesalers of finished leather. But reports say exports of finished leather garments and other products to Russia have been so badly affected by political disputes that 80% of these Zeytinburnu businesses have had to close. The loss of jobs could be as high as 10,000.
Local industry observers have said they see little prospect for progress on trading relations with Russia in 2016 or even in 2017.
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