Economic shock of lifting the minimum wage in Turkey

Nearly 300,000 employees in small and medium enterprises in Turkey have lost their jobs in January after the increase of the minimum wage in the country.
A total of 379,000 people have lost their jobs in January, 76,000 of them are women.
The report pointed out that 78% of people lost their jobs in the first month of the year were employed in small and medium enterprises.
In January, the minimum wage in Turkey was increased from 1,000 Turkish Liras to 1,300.
Many businessmen have warned then that the change could lead to cuts.
Most job losses were recorded in most developed parts of the country. In Istanbul, 63,000 people were unemployed. Tens of thousands are cuts in Ankara, Izmir and Antalya.
Increase in employment in January was registered in only one of the 81 counties in Turkey - Van, one of the poorest in the country.
In the last quarter of last year it grew by an impressive 5.7% and seems unaffected by the conflict between the state and the Kurdish minority, attacks and worsening relations with Russia.
In Friday the Iranian President Hassan Rohan contracted with Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan cooperation in the fields of tourism and transport. The goal is trade between the two countries to grow to $30 bln from about 10. Rohan said that Iran is ready to fully meet the needs of Turkey's oil and gas needs.