Pastrami and kashar cheese pide is a full 408 liras

A friend of mine told me that last weekend, four people went to a pide restaurant located in Trabzon Park on the Istanbul-Şile road—a place they had visited as a family a few years ago because the prices were reasonable and they had enjoyed a feast. However, as soon as they walked in, they saw the price list hanging up and couldn't believe their eyes, because the price of a single pide had exceeded 400 liras, and they immediately left the establishment.

Let's hear what happened from him directly:

“On Sunday, four of us, including two friends, were on the Anatolian side. Trabzon Park is in a wooded area on the Şile road; it crossed my mind as we were passing through the region, and I remembered the place where we had previously gone as a large family to eat pide. Back then, the pides were good and the price was reasonable, so I said, let's go again. First, we entered Trabzon Park, but it was muddy, construction everywhere, the roads were like a swamp; anyway, we drove up to the front in our car, and a valet was immediately on us, but we said we would park it ourselves. Then we went into the restaurant. As you know, restaurants are now required to post their price lists in front of the door; it wasn't in front of the door here, but they had hung the price list in a visible place in the dining hall. I looked at it and couldn't believe my eyes: one pide was 408 liras. We had already entered, so we sat at the table out of necessity. The waiter came, and I asked:

• Are the pides for two people? 

• No, he said, they are for one person but the size of a loaf of bread. We can make them one-and-a-half portions if you like. 

• Well, can I get a half portion?

• We make it 75 percent, but the price doesn't change; we just reduce the bread portion.

• Good heavens!

There are four of us, and just four pides will cost 1600 liras. If we also have an ayran each and share a dessert, it will exceed two thousand liras. A few months ago, we were paying this amount for four people at a tavern in Kadıköy. I turned to my friends and said, if you want, let's not eat and just leave. They agreed, and we left. Later, we went to a well-known doner restaurant called İntiba in Kavacık; we paid a 1200 lira bill there, but at least we had eaten doner, which was 260 liras per portion.”

My friend also shared a photo of the restaurant's price list; the pide prices were as follows:

‘Roasted meat (kavurmalı) 323 liras, minced meat (kıymalı) 313 liras, cheese (peynirli) 283 liras, mixed 243 liras, cubed meat (kuşbaşılı) 353 liras, mixed cubed meat 363 liras, pastrami (pastırmalı) 398 liras, mixed pastrami 408 liras, ayran 43 liras.’

Turkey has now become a country of price hikes; official statements do not reflect the reality, but the signs at pide restaurants rub in our faces how prices are skyrocketing.

And we now know that all this inflation stems from the stubbornness of not raising interest rates by two points at the right time. Those who made that decision also know this, and they are trying to contain inflation by raising interest rates to 45 percent, but it is in vain.

It is in vain because the public sector in Turkey is not practicing austerity; look at the cars with flashing lights passing at high speed in the right lane on the highways—there is nothing less than a million-dollar Mercedes Maybach, and even the most ordinary bureaucrat has an Audi A6 under them. In other countries, every high-level executive rides in a car produced by their own country and shows this to everyone. Hundreds of thousands of cars are produced in Turkey every year, but no one cares; our people consider it a humiliation to ride in anything that isn't German-made.

Not only does the public administration fail to practice austerity in any area, but it also fuels inflation by imposing exorbitant hikes on its own services.

They pass a law for a 25 percent rent increase cap, but when it comes to military service fees, they don't hesitate to increase them by 50 percent; they triple driver's license fees. The main reason why cigarettes, cars, phones, and alcohol are so expensive is the taxes that are constantly being raised.

You might say, is there any point in writing all this to the readers?

Actually, you are right; there isn't much point.

As you know, Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Sırrı Süreyya Önder recently said on the parliamentary floor, "the fool of the plaintiff tells his troubles to the bailiff," and that is exactly the situation.

But let us write it anyway, for the record. 

Perhaps those who have made it impossible for the people to even eat a single pide will feel a bit of shame and come to their senses, and think for a moment, "What have we done?"

NOTE: I am calling out to the other pide restaurants in Turkey; please do not raise your prices just because a pide has reached 408 liras in Istanbul; have some mercy.