Tanrıkulu brings the retirement rights of disabled and severely ill citizens to Parliament

CHP Deputy Chairman responsible for Human Rights and Diyarbakır MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu has brought the losses in retirement rights for disabled and severely ill citizens following the enactment of Law No. 7538 on January 15, 2025, to the agenda of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Submitting a parliamentary question for the Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan to answer, Tanrıkulu emphasized that the new legal regulation leads to violations of constitutional rights.

Stating that the early retirement and disability provisions, which have been applied under certain conditions for citizens experiencing loss of work capacity or struggling with severe illnesses within the framework of legislation in force since 1981, have been rendered dysfunctional by the new law, Tanrıkulu pointed out that complaints reflected in the public sphere have reached serious dimensions.

NEW REGULATION LEADS TO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT VIOLATIONS

Tanrıkulu stated that many citizens undergoing cancer treatment, living on dialysis, or suffering from loss of neurological function, who were able to benefit from retirement rights under the previous system, are now considered "fit to work" following the new regulation. Arguing that this situation is not merely an administrative change, Tanrıkulu assessed that "This picture creates serious constitutional debates in terms of the right to social security, the principle of the rule of law, and the protection of acquired rights."

Reminding that the CHP has filed an annulment application with the Constitutional Court (AYM) regarding the regulation, Tanrıkulu said that the fact that the process has not yet been concluded deepens the grievances. Tanrıkulu added that the fundamental purpose of a social state is to protect the living conditions of an individual in a manner worthy of human dignity in cases of severe illness and disability, and that the current practice contradicts both medical realities and the understanding of a social state.

News Source: 12punto