Abdullah Kiğılı: A great disaster awaits us

Source: News Center

The AKP government's economic policies impoverish large segments of the population while making capitalists anxious about the future, even if they make profits today.

While a new batch of giant companies is closing their factories in Türkiye and moving to Egypt every day, the owners of Türkiye's largest companies made striking criticisms about the current situation at an event hosted by Artaş Holding.

According to Sözcü, Kiğılı Chairman Abdullah Kiğılı spoke at the panel, saying, "A major disaster awaits us. We won't be able to find products in six months. The state has given up on ready-made clothing and textiles."

Vahap Küçük, Chairman of the Board of Directors of LC Waikiki , one of the largest brands in the sector operating with over 1,300 stores in 59 countries, also made remarkable remarks in his speech at the event.

Küçük said, "Today, we employ 55,000 people. The retail sector grew with shopping malls. The experience we gained here has allowed us to grow abroad. Without shopping malls, it wouldn't have been possible for us to grow on the streets. Our growth abroad is thanks to our experience in Türkiye. Shopping malls and the retail sector are like a piece of cake."

Vahap Küçük stated that while their own business is doing well and they're continuing to grow, things aren't going very well in the sector today. He said, "We're going through a difficult time, but the important thing is to focus on what we can do better in our sphere of influence. You can't lower inflation or interest rates, but we need to focus on how we can improve our business and manage costs better."

Abdullah Kiğılı came to the fore with his critical statements 5 years ago, but later apologized.

Kiğılı, whose words "We've never seen a crisis bigger than this" were reported in the media in February 2020, issued a statement following the escalating debate, saying, "That was my comment four months ago. It's different now. Things I and no one else in the sector could have imagined have happened in the past 100 days. It was said that bank interest rates would drop, and they have. Six months ago, you could borrow money from banks at 24-25% annual interest, regardless of the company you approached. That rate has dropped to 11-12%. Inflation is declining. Furthermore, 80% of our sales are made with credit cards."