Turkey's brands association says sales down 70% due to virus

The head of Turkey's United Brands Association said on Thursday that sales of stores on high streets and shopping malls had dropped 70% in the past week due to the coronavirus.

Sinan Oncel, whose association represents 384 brands and 70,000 domestic stores, told Reuters companies cannot make up for the lost sales and that the online sales infrastructure was insufficient.

Companies were prioritizing paying employees, he said.