Customers talk with staff members at an Apple store in Zorlu Center shopping mall in Istanbul, Turkey, on Aug. 15, 2018. (Xinhua/He Canling)
ISTANBUL, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's biggest mobile phone importing companies have cancelled their iPhone orders as Turkish citizens join a move to boycott U.S. products.
According to the Hurriyet Daily, a significant number of importers have begun to withdraw their short and long-term orders after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's appeal to boycott U.S. electronic products on Tuesday.
Three big companies operating in Dogubank, a trade center specialized in the sales of electronic products in central Istanbul, suspended 50 million U.S. dollars' worth of iPhone orders, the Turkish daily said.
According to the traders, the buyers in Anatolia also cancelled their contracts on the purchase of iPhone models.
"The demands were cut like a knife. We have put local brands on the shelf and removed iPhones," a mobile phone shop owner was quoted as saying.
In the meantime, ordinary Turkish citizens continue to back the boycott.
Ozgur Altinbas, a 25-year-old student, told Xinhua that he is considering joining the boycott by giving up the iPhone he has used for three years to buy an Asian mobile brand.
"I am one hundred percent behind the boycott appeal," he said.
Nearly 10 million people use U.S. iPhones in Turkey, press reports said, adding that the amount paid for the products hit 7 billion dollars in 10 years.
Meanwhile, Turkish people in social media tend to expand boycott in other U.S. products ranging from textile to fast food.
Last week, Washington doubled steel and aluminum tariffs on Turkey over its continued detention of the U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson.
In return, Erdogan signed a decree to raise tariffs on U.S. imports including cars, alcohol and tobacco.