As of: March 27, 2024, 11:58 a.m
By: Erkan Pehlivan
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Over 15 million pensioners in Turkey will take part in local elections next Sunday.
They will effectively decide which party will dominate.
Ankara – Local elections will take place in Turkey on Sunday.
Then the people in 81 provinces elect new mayors, city councilors and district administrators.
And the election campaign is in full swing.
The election campaign is overshadowed by economic issues.
Inflation and currency collapse are making life more and more expensive and there is no end to the downward spiral in sight.
Therefore, the socially disadvantaged and especially the pensioners in Turkey could tip the scales.
10,000 TL minimum pension in Turkey with 17,000 TL minimum wage
There are around 16 million pensioners in the country who are particularly suffering from rising prices.
The minimum pension is currently 10,000 Turkish lira (around 286 euros) and is therefore well below the minimum wage of 17,000 TL (around 486 euros).
This money is also not enough given the price increases.
For comparison: the “hunger threshold” in the country is over 20,000 TL.
This only includes the minimum monthly expenditure for a balanced diet for a family of four.
The “poverty threshold”, i.e. the total monthly expenses for a family, including food, rent and energy, is even over 57,000 TL.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also aware of the poor situation of pensioners.
Just recently the minimum pension was increased from 7,500 TL to 10,000 TL.
“We have increased pensions by up to 50 percent.
To alleviate the problems of pensioners, we gave them a one-time 5,000 TL,” Erdogan said at a campaign rally in Corum.
Other one-off premium payments, such as those for the month of Ramadan, were also increased by 50 percent in the run-up to the 2024 local elections.
Erdogan appeases Turkey's local elections with perseverance slogans
But the money is not even enough to offset official inflation of 67 percent.
That is why the hunger and poverty threshold is revised upwards practically every month.
Erdogan is therefore trying to use perseverance slogans: “We hope that inflation will decline from the second half of the year.
We have made preparations to expand household options.
We believe that from next year we will begin to increase the purchasing power of our employees and pensioners above previous levels.
As long as we keep our unity.
As long as we don't let anyone come between us.
The rest is just a matter of time and planning,” said the Turkish president in Corum.
AKP politician threatens loss of salaries and pensions
The votes of pensioners are crucial in the 2024 local elections.
The leader of the ruling AKP party in Merzifon, Abdullah Sahin, therefore warned voters not to give their votes to the opposition and thus be left completely without money.
“If political stability deteriorates, if our government takes a step backwards, it may not be possible to pay the salaries of pensioners and civil servants.”
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Local elections in Turkey: Opposition sees pensioners taking revenge
But Erdogan is also aware that the situation of pensioners is catastrophic.
“Everything we give to the pensioner disappears like a bottomless pit,” Erdogan said earlier in a campaign speech in Aksaray.
The leader of the opposition CHP party, Özgür Özel, recalled this: “You are the one who dug the pit and threw the pensioners into it!
The 16 million retirees you despise will give you their answer on March 31st.
“I have no doubt about it,” writes Özel on
(erpe)