Necdet Takva, president of the Van Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Rudaw that they have been paying close attention to the tourism sector since 2015, and that while in recent years they have focused mainly on tourism from Iran, they are working on attracting more tourists from the Kurdistan Region and will visit the Region after Ramadan.
Takva said they have made efforts to remove obstacles related to tourism and have spoken to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about it.
Rudaw: Greetings, Mr. Necdet Takva. The weather in Van is cold and the mountains are covered with snow. Our audience in the Kurdistan Region watching us are now saying we wish we were there.
Necdet Takva: Gamesh Qran [winter] is now over. We call this period of time Giske Pere and the weather is cold in Van. When the mountains around Van are covered with snow, the cold of the snow comes to the city. We think the weather will change in ten days.
When we discuss Van, there is water, mountains, and beautiful nature, Van has everything, it is one of the most beautiful Kurdish cities. How is the business situation?
Actually, the trade is not high compared to other cities in Turkey. Commerce has not prospered here and the city has not opened up much to the outside world. Our hope is to make Van friendly with everywhere in the world and develop the city’s trade and economy.
We are close to Iran and share a common border of 180 kilometers and a gateway with the city of Khoy. We also have a border with Urmia in Hakkari (Colemerg). Until 2015, we did not know that tourism from Iran was an asset for us. Since 2015, we have paid great attention to the tourism sector and tourism from Iran in particular. That’s how we made progress. In 2023, about 800,000 Iranian tourists visited Van and spent time here. Therefore, I must say that the tourism sector has developed and good conditions have been created for Van’s business. We are very happy about that, but little has been achieved.
Van should not solely rely on Iran for tourism. We plan to work with the Kurdistan Region as well. We and the Kurdistan Region speak the same language, we are one people, and we want people from Van to visit the Kurdistan Region and people from the Kurdistan Region to come to Van. For this year, we have projects and our efforts are ongoing. I think that after Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr we will go to the Kurdistan Region and assess what the obstacles for trade are between us so we can create an environment between the Kurdistan Region and our city that is effective.
Among Turkey’s 81 provinces, it [Van] is the poorest city economically. This is a very strange thing. There are some obstacles. The biggest obstacle is the authorities’ attitude towards Van, which means that our officials are not making good efforts for our development. We criticize these things every day. Our criticism is in the interests and wealth of our people. Without the support of the authorities, our city will not develop.
There are too many obstacles and we want to lay a foundation for the development of the city. Obstacles such as [poor] roads must be eliminated, because if they are not addressed, the economy will not grow. We must develop our economy on that basis. That foundation must be prepared with the support of the authorities and Ankara. The people of Van must unite their strength and thus lay the economic foundation so that we can develop our business.
The second thing is that there was about 40 years of war and that was a big challenge. The situation is good now and we are happy with that. Van has a lot of tourism opportunities, especially when we see that there is everything in Van.
Another obstacle is the large number of migrants in Van. In 2010, the population of Van was between 900,000 and 950,000. Two earthquakes struck Van in 2011, and the population increased to 1.1 million. The population is now over 1.15 million. A large number of people came to Van, but not with personal ability or projects. Our young people and those without education remain unemployed, although some of them have gone to western Turkey to work there.
Van is a tourist city and your work is more related to tourism. What is the situation in terms of industry? Is there industry here? Something being produced?
Yes, there are industrial zones that are organic industrial zones. There are currently about 200 factories in the Van Industrial Zone engaged in construction, food, livestock, and many other sectors.
If you look at Van Castle, across the castle there is a commercial and industrial zone with about 200 factories. The industrial zone is not yet fully ready and has many shortcomings, even in its foundation there are many shortcomings. My own factory is also there. There are plenty of opportunities moving forward.
You will go to the Kurdistan Region after Ramadan. What is the relationship between the Kurdistan Region and Van? In what sectors are there investment opportunities there that you can partner on?
First of all, we need to travel between both sides for years to become familiar with the Kurdistan Region and its opportunities. We need to bring businesspeople and entrepreneurs here to look at the opportunities available to them. Businessmen are wise people and will not work if they do not know what the situation is and what could happen in the future. That is human nature.
We generally work on the tourism sector. When the people of the Kurdistan Region are aware of the opportunities here and the people of Van and its surroundings become familiar with Erbil, Duhok, Zakho, Sulaimani and other cities in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, I believe that a relationship will be established between them in two to three years.
Tourism is the foundation of all sectors. If businesspeople come here, they can do something using solar energy; do something using water; do something in terms of tourism. For example, Van was a capital in Anatolia before Istanbul and Ankara. It is said that this city was a capital seven thousand years ago, which means that it [a strong] foundation and culture. It is up to us to work on that and introduce this place to other nations.
In my opinion, Van’s closest neighbors are the Kurdistan Region, Iran, and Armenia. I wish we could introduce our city to people in those places. We and the Kurdistan Region are one people, and this is a great opportunity for us and the Kurdistan Region.
You mentioned that there were huge obstacles and there was war here for many years. There is no more war in the area now, but there is no political stability either. Elections have been held for several years and mayors have been elected, but there are still political problems and trustees are appointed. How much is political instability in the city a problem for you, businesspeople and industrial development?
The things you are talking about are the biggest problems for municipalities and local authorities. Trustees have been appointed for 15 years. For example, in your cities like Sulaimani and Erbil, when you have an obstacle, you go to your mayor whom you know, but we do not have that opportunity.
Six trustees have been appointed in the span of 10 years, meaning each was in power for an average of one and a half years. Whenever the trustee is changed, the mayor is also changed. Both positions are held by the same person. Who are the trustees? They are either the governors or the district mayors. They have two characteristics. The first thing is that they do their job and the second thing is that they run the affairs of the municipality.
When a trustee is changed, the mayor is also changed. When the mayor changes, the projects change, the attitudes change, everything changes. We have been facing such obstacles for 15 years and have not progressed.
If you take a project to the head of the municipality or the mayor of your city, he will get replaced before he fully understands the project and its principles, and everything remains untouched. When a new trustee is appointed, by the time people get used to them, they get replaced. This is a huge problem and obstacle to urban development.
If a mayor is elected for five years, he must serve his city and its people for five years. If he does not, the project will not succeed. The people must see these obstacles and make their own decisions for their city. How do they decide? I keep saying that politics is not religion and faith, it changes.
To what extent is Ankara helping Van to develop faster? I remember there was a board here in recent years, such as the board of Khabur, Sirank and other places. Is there any assistance from Ankara for Van?
We cannot say that there is any support for Van at the moment. But they are bound to see the opportunities in front of the city one day because they are in power.
There are many shortcomings. There is a project called Development Road; the road has not been completed for decades. The road runs from Ibrahim Khalil-Khabur to Van and from Van to the Black Sea.
Now we have two routes in Van that can be used if we want to go to the Kurdistan Region or come from the Kurdistan Region to Van. One of them is the Cele road and the Sar Zer border crossing, which has problems in terms of road infrastructure. The other is via Batman, which goes through Ibrahim Khalil border crossing and takes at least six hours to reach.
If the Development Road project is fully implemented, it will benefit the Kurdistan Region, Iraq, Turkey, the Middle East, Van and the surrounding regions. The road is a strategic project. Of course, if Turkey implements the project and the road is completely opened, the six hours between Van and Ibrahim Khalil will be reduced to two hours and possibly less.
If the Sar Zer border crossing is prepared and its expansion is completed, you can reach Van in three hours. That is important for us, but the opening of the international project will bring about a big change for Van. When the president came to Van a few days ago, our first and foremost request was this road; we asked the president to prepare the road for us. We have put all our concentration into this project.
