21.10.2026 08:30
In textiles and ready-to-wear, one of Turkey’s leading industrial sectors, giant facilities continue to shut their doors due to high costs, a suppressed exchange rate, and shrinking markets. Following the Kayseri-based denim giant Orta Anadolu, TYH Tekstil has also announced that it has closed 7 of its 13 factories and had to lay off 5,000 employees.
Türkiye's textile and ready-to-wear sectors, which provide the most employment in Turkey and stand out with their investments in Anatolia, have been going through a difficult period over the past two years with factory closures and mass layoffs. While the total massive investment amount of 78.2 billion lira in the two sectors is rapidly eroding, manufacturers continue to lose their competitive advantage due to rising costs amid a fixed exchange rate and shrinking export markets.
The latest step in the sector's contraction occurred at TYH Tekstil, one of the giant manufacturers. The company locked the doors of 7 of its 13 factories and decided to part ways with thousands of employees.
"WE HAD TO SAY FAREWELL TO 5,000 PERSONNEL"
TYH Tekstil Chairman of the Board Selçuk Mehmet Kaya, who made assessments to Ekonomim regarding the concordat process they are in and the decision to downsize, stated that the economic conditions negatively affected the company.
Kaya described the downsizing process with these words:
"The difficulties we experienced in the economy brought us to this point. We had 13 factories; we reduced them to 6. We shrank significantly, especially on the ready-to-wear side. We were producing with 6,900 people in 13 factories. We went down to 1,900 people. In other words, we had to say farewell to 5,000 personnel. Almost all of them were competent colleagues who did their jobs well. The difficulties in the economy would inevitably affect some companies more negatively. Unfortunately, we also became one of the most heavily affected."
THE DENIM GIANT ORTA ANADOLU HAD ALSO CLOSED ITS FACTORY
The crisis in the textile sector had also hit a giant brand in recent weeks. The Orta Anadolu company, founded in Kayseri 73 years ago and producing denim fabric for world giant brands such as Diesel, Replay, Guess, Mustang and Levi’s, had decided to close its giant factory where 1,500 employees were employed. Sector representatives warn that if cost pressure and market contraction are not resolved, the wave of downsizing may continue.