An influx of Russian investors in the town of Bozburun in the southwestern province of Muğla, famous for its two-masted wooden sailing vessels, known as gulets, is proving worrisome for the town”s master shipbuilders.
The people of Bozburun, who make their living building gulets and exporting them to countries such as Italy, Romania and France, are about to lose the sector to the Russians. Now that four Russians have purchased the best sites for shipbuilding in the town, the people of Bozburun are struggling to build gulets. As the land in Bozburun is not appropriate for growing vegetables and fruit, residents produce gulets in the fields, but this, too, may soon no longer be viable.
One ship-building master in Bozburun, pointing out that the sector will largely be in the hands of the Russians soon, says: "This is beyond us now. Once again, the big fish swallows the little ones."
Mustafa Kahraman, one of the shipbuilders in Bozburun, said: "We have never been able to consolidate and grow. The state didn”t help us, either. The Russians, who have the capital, have purchased or rented tens of thousands of square meters of land to build shipyards to make gullets. They made big investments and are employing the Turkish people as workers. There are three small registered shipyards belonging to Turkish people in the town. The Russians are building bigger ones. Of nearly 40 masters, there are only four left."
Uğur Bora, one of the young masters who came from İstanbul and started building gulets in his workshop in Bozburun, says the Russians are investing heavily in the gulet industry in Bozburun. Another master, Mehmet Uslu, said: "We are about to lose the sector. Soon it will be entirely under their control. The Russians will soon own most of the sites where a shipyard can be built. We will be left with our fields and small workshops. The Russians, who have bought the land next to my workshop, have already started building a shipyard."
Hayri Anar added: "Our masters started employing Russian and Ukrainian labor a few years ago. The Russians who entered the sector as laborers are now getting ready to build shipyards in many places, either by buying the land or by renting it. Once the Russians have control of the industry, the wooden gulets exclusive to Bozburun will be history. It is not possible for anybody but our masters to build these gulets. Unfortunately, our masters will only be able to work for them as laborers. This is a sad situation, both for Bozburun and for Turkey."
Resource: Today”s Zaman
