KOMOTINI
A vast number of Greek citizens, who are facing hard times due to economic downturn in their country, are visiting Turkey to sell their jewelry.
A silversmith, who declined to be named, told Anadolu Agency correspondent on Tuesday that a great number of Greek citizens were travelling to neighboring country Turkey to sell their valuable items.
The silversmith stated that Greeks were visiting Turkey because of getting paid in cash straightaway for their items.
He also stated that finding easy customer was another measure for Greeks to make a journey to Turkey.
Claiming that jewelries were getting collected by pawn broker in the country, the silversmith said that it was impossible for small scale enterprises to compete with those big companies.
Tanju Kircali, another silversmith in city centre of Komotini, said that there was a recession in terms of buying and selling scrap metals in the market.
Kircali stated that most of the citizens had no more valuable items to sell due to economic downturn, adding that pawn brokers also were playing a crucial part in this game.
According to the information received, there was an increase in number of citizens who do not demand to declare their money while coming back from Turkey. Following these developments, Greek officials tighten the controls at the border gate.
A Greek silversmith had been seen at Ipsala Border Gate a while ago with 94,700 Euros who earned the money selling jewelry in Turkey.
Reporting by Mehmet Hatipoglu
