Sado-maso situations

Do not think that by looking at the title of this article, I am talking about the sex film craze of the 70s; nor about erotic French cinema, nor the German porn industry...

The title above perfectly defines the relationship between retirees in Turkey and the current government.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to explain the psychopathology of retirees who, despite living at the hunger threshold, stubbornly and persistently support those who condemn them to this, with their eyes closed, in any other way.

Why, you ask? Let us try to explain as best as our minds allow.

In Turkey, with the introduction of the EYT (Retirement Age Victims) regulation, the number of retirees has exceeded 16 million.

According to SGK data from October 2022, 26.2 million people are working as insured employees. However, the number of insured individuals actually paying premiums is 24.2 million.

The ratio of retirees to insured workers is 63 percent. That is, in Turkey, there are 100 retirees for every 158 insured workers.

The ratio of those working and paying premiums to the retirees in a country is a very important parameter for that country's social welfare.

The higher the ratio of workers, the more likely it is for retirees to receive higher and more satisfactory pensions.

In Turkey, this ratio is unfortunately around 1.6.

The OECD wants this to be around 4. However, from a mathematical perspective, the “ideal situation” is seen as 7.

The number of countries that have reached this ratio is negligible.

In Germany, which according to the government is jealous of us, 3.2 workers support one retiree. That is why German retirees head to Turkey after receiving their pensions, live like kings here, and our retirees get swollen tonsils from swallowing hard while watching them.

Of course, it was not always like this in Turkey.

Until the end of the 80s, because every 3.3 workers supported one retiree, their bonuses and pensions were enough to live like human beings. That is why they could buy houses and cars with their bonuses and make a living with their pensions.

This balance was disrupted starting in the 90s, but primarily after 2002.

Instead of increasing the number of workers and introducing a rational system suitable for the country's conditions based on a reasonable age and premium days, the government turned retirees into a vote bank by making them dependent on a sentence coming out of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's lips.

Today, retirees constitute the largest social group hit by the economic crisis in the country.

As of the end of 2023, the average pension in Turkey is around 10,500 TL. This shows that a large portion of retirees receive a pension below the minimum wage.

In a period when street inflation is approaching 200 percent, the improvement made to pensions according to official inflation data is almost non-existent.

The retirees of our country are practically being condemned to hunger.

However, there is no end to the misery.

For example, 9 million retirees received no raise at all in July 2023.

The lowest pension, which rose from 3,500 liras to 7,500 liras last year, is expected to exceed 10,000 liras with the January 2024 raise and the “local election bribe” that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will give under the name of a welfare share.

Even if he gives 20,000 TL instead of 10,000, it is obvious that this raise will have no meaning in today's inflationary environment.

Moreover, even before the raise rates were finalized, markets, greengrocers, bakers, wholesalers, and restaurants changed their labels, and landlords are lying in wait. In the fashionable term of recent days, the market has already bought the price hikes.

In other words, even if the increased pensions are deposited into accounts, nothing will change on the Western Front.

The retiree will continue to crawl.

Unfortunately, there are retirees in Turkey today trying to live on one meal a day, and retirees who have not had a bite of meat in their stomachs for months.

They walk around the markets with empty bags in their hands, or they wait for the evening to collect the rotten, bruised vegetables and fruits that the vendors pile up here and there to take home.

The psychosocial dimension of this issue really needs explanation!

Since 2002, the more the government has crushed the retiree, the more support it has received. In the last 22 years, the AKP has not even treated them like human beings, but at least three-quarters of retirees have chosen to stand behind the government at any cost. In other words, the significant majority of retirees, no matter how much they crawl, no matter how hungry they stay, no matter how miserable they become, have always gone and cast their votes for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

In Turkey, retirees, when considered with their spouses, mean at least 30 million voters. This means they can remove any political party they want from power or bring them to power whenever they want.

So they have great power in their hands. But they are not aware of it.

When you mention religion, faith, the book, the flag, the call to prayer, the waters stop flowing for the retirees of our country, their eyes mist over; especially when you hit them with the fear that if the CHP comes to power, PKK members will become ministers, Jerusalem will fall, and God forbid, they will close the mosques, they throw themselves into the rally squares, ignoring the growling from their hungry stomachs, chanting “Reyceeep Tayyyipp Erdooaaan” to the sound of the dombra.

Of course, if they can arrange a job for their grandchild in a government office through nepotism from the AKP provincial or district organization, or even a position as a specialist sergeant if not a night watchman, there is nothing better than that!

Under normal conditions, in a normal country, every ruling party should not take a step without considering such a large mass, but those in Turkey have tied their existence to the charity economy that the AKP runs with great success.

A bit of honey smeared on their lips before every election is reflected in the ballot box as a vote for the AKP or Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Very few stand against this mentality that makes them dependent on charity as a matter of principle.

And that is a drop in the ocean.

Even if they shout and scream before every election, in the end, they go meekly and line up behind the 'Reis' (Chief).

Before May 14-28, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu came out and said that if he were elected President, 15,000 TL would be deposited into every retiree's account as a holiday bonus. Moreover, he also explained the source of the money to be given.

However, despite this, the vast majority of retirees still went and cast their votes for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, saying, “Is there anyone else?”

Now we have local elections ahead of us. Retirees are crying and wailing again.

Especially the worker retirees have their eyes and ears on the Palace again. They know that the raise given according to the custom-made inflation rate of the TUIK means nothing. If at least there is an increase as much as the civil servant retirees, that would be great!

Whatever falls from His Majesty's heart!

They do not look much at this aspect of the issue, but they have a very important trump card in their hands.

A strong message to be given to the government in the local elections could be a turning point for both the country and themselves.

Otherwise, it is the deluge after April 1st.

It is being talked about that the dollar will be 40 and diesel will be 60 liras. An incredible wave of price hikes is expected for everything from needles to thread. The government is preparing to tax almost the very air we breathe. The rabid religious minority will become even richer with the political support given by retirees at the cost of going hungry, and those forced to settle for a pittance of a salary will be advised to be grateful. The size of the intersection set of retirees with the mosque congregation gives the government a great advantage in this regard.

No one should expect pensions to be improved. They will want to curb domestic demand, primarily by not giving raises to retirees' salaries. They are not hiding this anyway. In short, retirees will have to live under much worse economic conditions than today for the next 4 years.

The visible village needs no guide. Do not say later that I did not tell you.

Let us put a period to our article by pointing once again to the last exit before the bridge.