500,000 Textile Jobs Lost: As 10,000 Companies Shut Down, the Government Pours Billions into the OTS
Once Turkey’s largest source of industrial employment, the textile and garment sector is experiencing a historic collapse. Over the past three years, more than 500,000 textile workers have lost their jobs and 10,000 companies have shut their doors. In the first five months of 2026 alone, another 790 firms were liquidated, leaving 8,281 more workers unemployed. These figures are not merely the decline of one sector — they are the most tangible evidence of Turkey’s structural de-industrialisation.
Manufacturing Is Bleeding Out
Turkey’s Statistical Institute (TÜİK) 2026 data makes the picture even darker. Manufacturing employment fell 3.2% year-on-year as of May 2026 — 156,000 people lost their jobs in the industrial sector alone. In June, total industrial output declined 1.4% annually, and manufacturing output fell 1.5%. The mining sector saw a 1.6% drop.
Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) President Mustafa Gültepe made this striking statement at the Istanbul Chamber of Industry in July: “I can’t breathe, and you’re still telling me to build aeroplanes.” Borrowing costs approaching 50% have completely destroyed industrialists’ appetite for investment. Business confidence has collapsed to near zero from its 2021 peak. Factory investment has turned negative; capital is fleeing production for high-risk, high-return financial instruments.
📊 Key data:
- 500,000+ textile jobs lost in 3 years
- 10,000 textile companies shut down
- First 5 months of 2026: 790 firms liquidated, 8,281 jobs lost
- Manufacturing employment: 3.2% decline (annual)
- June 2026: 3,382 companies dissolved
- 3,000+ concordat (bankruptcy protection) rulings
Bankruptcy Wave: Factories for Sale from Edirne to Urfa
So far in 2026, more than 3,000 concordat rulings have been issued. In June alone, 3,382 companies were dissolved. On the national judicial network UYAP, factories from Edirne to Urfa are being sold at scrap prices — production facilities that once employed hundreds are changing hands for parts.
Even major companies like Eroğlu Giyim have closed factories in Aksaray (2025) and Çorlu (2026), leaving over 3,000 workers jobless. Many large manufacturers are relocating production lines to Egypt and the Far East. Turkey’s silent de-industrialisation continues at pace.
Tax Money to Central Asia, Contracts to the President’s Sons-in-Law
While this dark picture unfolds, the government’s spending under the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS) is generating controversy. The Turkic Investment Fund (TIF), with $600 million in authorised capital, is financing energy and infrastructure projects in Central Asian countries. But no public assessment of the fund’s cost to Turkey’s budget has been published.
For example, Erdoğan-aligned Cengiz Holding operates a 480 MW power plant in Uzbekistan and is building a third 550 MW facility in Jizzakh. These projects employ hundreds of Uzbek workers — but the financing comes from Turkish taxpayers. Creating jobs for their own youth while leaving neighbouring countries’ workers behind has become a bitter irony for millions of Turkish workers, especially textile employees.
Is Industry’s Cry Being Heard?
The textile and garment sector unions TGSD sent a letter to the Presidency calling for “re-industrialisation”. The letter noted that with the same factories, the same skilled workers, and the same customer relationships, export share has fallen below 3%. Approximately 377,000 people lost their jobs in the textile and garment sector between 2022 and 2025.
Energy costs have surged 40% as Ankara prepares for the OTS summit. The billions the government is pouring into Central Asia will not be enough to drown out the cries of closed factories and millions of unemployed workers at home.