Cash transfer fees from Turkey to rebel-held Aleppo skyrocket

Money transfer fees from Turkey to rebel held districts of east Aleppo have soared as residents continue to face a devastating siege defined by relentless aerial bombardment from Syrian and Russian warplanes.

In the Turkish cities of Gaziantep and Kilis, both located close to the Syrian border and now home to thousands of Syrian refugees, fees for transferring money to Aleppo have risen to between 15-20 percent of the total amount transferred having stood at one percent before the war.

Speaking to Iqtissad, a Syrian news website, one merchant in the city noted that to transfer $10,000 to the besieged city cost $1,200 in fees.

“I have to pay the fees because there is no other way to transfer money,” said the merchant.

Access into Aleppo has currently been blocked by pro-government forces in the midst of an assault on rebel-held districts of the city that analysts say could prove a turning point in the war, now in its sixth year.

One money exchange office employee based in Gaziantep who spoke to Iqtissad explained that in order to transfer sums of cash to Aleppo, money is given to a third party office in Turkey specified by the money exchange office in Aleppo before the Aleppo office then gives the equivalent amount of money to the recipient in the war-torn city.

Since a US-Russian brokered ceasefire collapsed on September 19, Syrian regime forces have stepped up efforts to retake Aleppo, with ground forces currently advancing backed by Syrian and Russian warplanes in the skies.

Aid groups have been denied access to the city, with the UN describing deteriorating conditions in east Aleppo rendering life a "merciless abyss of humanitarian catastrophe".

Observers have noted that given current regime advances Aleppo could fall in a matter of weeks, while the UN has hazarded that if regime bombardment continues at its current pace the city could face “total destruction” by the end of the year.