Erdoğan had said '600 billion is needed for retiree raises'! Here is the response from Özgür Özel...

Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Özgür Özel was a guest today on the program titled 'Yeni Bir Sabah' (A New Morning), hosted by İsmail Küçükkaya on Halk TV.

Touching upon what will be done for retirees under a CHP government, Özel said, "As our first election promise, we will not leave retiree pensions below the minimum wage."

Drawing attention to the problems faced by retirees, Özel continued his words as follows:

When Turkey comes under CHP rule, what will happen is that there will be a fair tax system, there will be tax reform, there will be a revolution in taxes. I am saying this very clearly. Today, out of every 100 liras of tax collected in Turkey, 65 liras are not normal taxes but taxes collected through indirect means. In other words, the factory owner entering a gas station pays the same tax. The person earning minimum wage pays the same tax. Whether the person buying milk is unemployed or is Turkey's wealthiest businessperson, they pay the same tax. Electricity, water, and telephone bills—these are indirect taxes. This indirect tax should never be 65 percent; we will change this.

Özel responded to Tayyip Erdoğan's words regarding a raise for retirees: "680 billion is needed for me to make it 17 thousand liras."

Stating that the government gives the raise it would provide to retirees to wealthy contractors, Özel expressed the following:

The minimum wage is 17 thousand 200 liras today. The retiree pension will not fall below this. And the state will make that payment. Because there is a man running a greengrocer on the corner. He employs staff. If he pays 15 thousand liras, the state jumps on him and makes his life miserable. Asking, "Why didn't you pay 17 thousand liras?" The reason is; "Can one live on 15 thousand, brother?" it says. "There is a lower limit to this," it says. The state does not do this for its own retirees. This is a difficulty. Erdoğan said, "680 billion is needed for me to make it 17 thousand liras." A standard answer is needed here. Let me give the answer. That money exists. For example, the total tax that Erdoğan waived last year under the name of incentives—not for tradesmen or such, but for the very big ones—was 666 billion liras. That money exists; this is a choice. Erdoğan, the current government, gave that money to wealthy contractors so they could overcome the crisis. If it were me, I would have given it to the retirees.

News Source: 12punto