türkçe links to original Turkish article
(Milliyet Newspaper, 14 June 2020)
"Çekçekçiler": 'those who pull', from the verb 'çekmek', to
pull. Their street-savvy may be their best protection.
"Çekçekçiler", the individuals who collect plastic and paper on the
streets, are considered among those most at risk from COVID-19 and
yet they press on with their work, ignoring the virus. Most of them
don't wear masks or gloves but they nevertheless fear passing along
the illness to their families. The chief of the Street Refuse Collectors'
Association (SRCA), Recep Karaman noted that "even though we
know we're going to die, we have to work."
In Turkey, there are about 500,000 (!) "çekçekçiler", some who work
all year round and others who are seasonal. Mustafa Koç (42), who
works in the Güngören section of Istanbul, explained that "this
period has affected us greatly. I'm one of those who works by the
day so during the days when being on the street was forbidden I was
hard hit. I don't have a mask and gloves because I can't afford to
spend money on them. I have to work to educate my two kids. I
try not to touch the plastics, in particular. I'm afraid of passing the
virus on to my family."
SRCA Chief Karaman added that "If we don't work the recycling
sector is seriously affected. So far a couple of our guys have caught
the virus but they quickly recovered. It seems that since we work on
the streets our immune systems can tolerate this microbe. But we
worry about our families at home."
"Bring it on COVID!"
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