Not Turkish Delight

I am very concerned.

Opposite our house in our little street there is a shop run by a Turkish family. It calls itself supermarket but it's just like a corner shop selling mainly fruit and vegetables, some dairy products and many Turkish specialities. The father runs the shop and the two teenage daughters help him out. They seem to work there mostly in the afternoons and evenings, once school has finished.

The family is very hard-working and polite. Early in the morning you can see the father putting all the fruit and vegetable stands up outside the shop and in the evening he takes them all down again. They used to have a second counter at one of the delicatessens in the town center, but I've noticed that they haven't been there for a while.




I buy quite a lot of stuff at the shop, usually when I've run out of essentials or I want fruit and vegetables - there are lots of stalls selling fresh fruit and vegetables on the marketplace, but they are much more expensive than the Turkish shop.

About two weeks ago, I went into the Turkish shop to buy some milk and the two teenage girls were serving. Once I'd paid, they asked me if I would sign their petition. The petition was already several pages long, bearing a large number of signatures. When I asked what it was for, they told me that the town authorities were not renewing their rent contract on the shop and they are being told they have to leave by the end of the month. They are collecting signatures from as many people as they can who shop there, and then they want to take this petition to the authorities and ask them to renew the lease.

I was very shocked. The shop is very popular and I can't understand why anyone would have any complaints about it. I asked what grounds the town authorities were giving for closing the shop, and the girl said there weren't any specific ones. "They don't seem to like us very much" she said.

I vowed to myself that if they were not successful with their petition I would go to the authorities myself. Yesterday I asked the girls again if there was any news.

They told me that the authorities were demanding they leave the shop within the next 10 days. Apparently there had been some trouble at the other counter in the delicatessen where they had also worked and since then there had been problems. They had lost the counter at the delicatessen, which is why I hadn't seen them there any more.

The best part is to come - they have also been given notice on their appartment. Their landlord there is also the town authority. Now they will have no income, no job and nowhere to live. They don't understand why.

Their plan is to go to the authorities in a few days with the petition but I think it will be too late. They have also approached the local newspaper (the newspaper offices are right opposite). Apparently the editor wants to take their petition to the authorities himself.

I think I can no longer stand by and look on. This is not doing the German image any good at all! I am going to go and see the newspaper editor this morning and ask if I can go with him.