Northern Syria – North-Press Agency
Local sources in Idlib, northern Syria, warned of an economic collapse in the region due to the accelerating Syrian greed for foreign currency, in addition to the US administration's nearing enforcement of Caesar Act sanctions on the Syrian government. At the same time, they point to the absence of a Turkish role supporting these collapsing economic conditions by imposing dealings with the Turkish lira instead of the Syrian pound.
Amid these warnings, inquiries on Turkey’s interest or fears of imposing the use of the Turkish lira instead of the Syrian pound would be at the head of the expected economic disaster in northern Syria.
Adoption of the Turkish lira
In this regard, the political analyst Dr. Maamoun Sayd Issa, a resident of Idlib, told North-Press that the adoption of the Turkish lira in northern Syria is in the Turkish interest, as there is a large amount of dollars to be used there for salaries and military personnel. This is in addition to aid to the citizens from their families in Arab and western countries, where the dollar will be changed into Turkish currency if the Turkish currency is adopted for dealing on individual sale and wholesale.
He added: "Turks have many priorities and interests with the Russians, including economic and strategic interests. Thus, Turkey's adoption of the Turkish lira instead of the Syrian pound in those areas will weaken the regime's economy by cutting off business operations."
These regions include about 4.2 million people, "and this is not a small number, so it is not in the Russian interest to weaken the economy of the regime," Issa said.
Economic Disaster
Concerning the economic disaster threatening northern Syria, Sayd Issa said that “events indicate an economic disaster coming to northern Syria because of the expected collapse of the Syrian pound in the coming months with the application of the Caesar Act next month.”
The political analyst added that there are other reasons, the most important of which is the case of Rami Makhlouf and others, and also that northern Syria deals in the Syrian pound but most of the prices of materials are tied to the dollar. "We have noticed the prices rise by 150% in those areas, concurrent with the collapse of the Syrian pound that has escalated since May."
Approaching collapse
He indicated that "with the looming collapse of the exchange rate of the Syrian pound, there will be a huge rise in the price of raw materials. This will cause a defect in the markets, especially as the low income does not rise along with the high prices, which causes many social problems.”
No alternative to the Syrian lira
Despite growing calls for dealing with the Turkish lira instead of the Syrian pound in northern Syria, and departments pay salaries with the Turkish lira instead of the Syrian pound, they warned of difficulty in the coming days. However, the popular base in Idlib do not want to deal with the Turkish lira.
In the same subject, Fady al-Idlibi, a media activist in Idlib, told North-Press that “it's natural for every country in the world to try to expand its economic influence to protect itself from an unstable currency market. Turkey seeks this in northern Syria, which is proved by all transactions and procedures in the local councils in Turkish-controlled areas in northern Syria being carried out in the Turkish lira. In addition, the official salaries there are paid in Turkish lira.”
“In northern Syria, there are noteworthy traders, and trade, especially between Turkey and those regions, is very significant. So, if the traders wanted to deal in Turkish lira, they could simply impose it on the markets," he added.
He pointed out that what prevents them first is their fear of the Turkish currency’s instability, and second, keeping huge profits due to the collapse of the Syrian pound that serves them, as they deal in US dollars.”
He added that "most popular opinions fear replacing the Syrian currency with the Turkish one because of the lack of guarantee of stable market prices in Turkey to Syrian markets, especially as the Turkish lira exchange rate in the Syrian north reached 200 Syrian pounds.”