A strange era, from inflation to lawlessness...

February inflation rates have been announced. The figures indicated that inflation rose by 39.05 percent annually and 2.27 percent monthly. Inflation rates, which have not fallen below 40 percent for a long time, were interpreted positively for February. On the other hand, the Independent Inflation Research Group (ENAG) announced that inflation increased by 3.37 percent on a monthly basis in February, while annual inflation was 79.51 percent. The difference between the two is nearly double. 

Regardless of these indicators, citizens ultimately evaluate the economy based on how it reflects on their daily expenses, their shopping baskets, and their purchasing power. Another striking piece of data is that the main expenditure item with the highest increase in February compared to the same month of the previous year was education, at 94.90 percent. In fact, education expenses have been among the highest for some time now… 

Although the official increase rate for intermediate grades in private schools for the 2025-2026 academic year has been set at 54.8 percent, even this increase is enough to strain parents. While the cost of studying at a university abroad was 2-3 times the cost of studying at a private university in Turkey 5 years ago, today it has started to become nearly equal… Let's say the children go to a public school; in that case, covering their expenses, shoes, school bus, and food with a minimum wage is another issue…

The high cost of living does not only cause problems in terms of education, of course… Clothing and apparel are significant expense items, especially for families with multiple children… It seems it will take some time for the decline in inflation to turn into a breath of fresh air for the citizens. 

An interesting piece of data also came from Global Blue Turkey. According to the news from Ekonomim.com, the volume of tax-free shopping done abroad increased by 41 percent last year. When looking at the last two years, this rate rises to 450 percent. This shows that the high-income group has started to prefer going abroad for shopping to a significant extent. It appears that high inflation is now bothering citizens of every income group.

Now you might ask, if inflation, and therefore the economy, is so important, why is it not on the political agenda? 

In many public opinion polls, the economy has become a macro-problem for voters with an importance exceeding 50 percent. On the other hand, the political agenda consists of, on one side, the discussions the government calls a "Turkey without terrorism," and on the other, the investigations carried out against the CHP, which are effectively putting the main opposition party in a vice. Politicians from the Republican People's Party (CHP) are confused about which case to rush to, which district municipality to show solidarity with, or which injustice to fight against… As in the lines of poet Hasan Hüseyin Korkmazgil, "my friend, my friend, my beautiful friend, what a terrible line this is, what a maddening balance." The problem we have is that our leaves continue to fall before we ever see a spring garden.

Under these circumstances, what matters is what the citizens, who are stuck between the reality of the economy and the political agenda, think. Perhaps such a strange period had never been experienced before. What can we say, may the best happen for us…