CHP reacts sharply to Erdoğan's '10 tanks' remark: 'The nation's kitchen is empty'

CHP Kayseri Deputy Aşkın Genç commented on AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's remarks that "a citizen receiving minimum wage can fill their car's tank ten times a month," stating, "This calculation is only possible if the entire salary is spent on gasoline. But in that case, there would be no money left for bread on the table, natural gas for the home, or notebooks for the child."

482 PERCENT PRICE HIKE IN 5 YEARS

In a written statement, Genç noted that the cost of filling a car with a 35-liter tank, which was 275 liras in 2021, has risen to 1,601 liras in 2025, and that the price of a liter of gasoline has increased by 482 percent over five years.

Stating that President Erdoğan's words that "a minimum wage earner can fill their tank 10 times" are mathematically possible, Genç added the following:

"But for this calculation to hold, the citizen would have to spend their entire salary on fuel. In real life, such a situation does not exist. Because before that tank is filled, that citizen has to think about rent, bills, diapers, school stationery, and kitchen expenses. The tank might be filling up, but the nation's cupboard is empty, the pot is empty, and hope is empty.

In 2021, you could buy 6 kilos of ground meat for the price of one tank of gas. Today, when you go to the butcher for a tank that costs 1,600 liras to fill, you can barely buy 2 kilos of ground meat. In those years, the average rent in a metropolitan city was 1,500 liras. Today, you cannot find a house for 10 thousand liras. The tank might be full, but the citizen's wallet is shrinking, their peace of mind is shrinking. Filling a tank by cutting back on the dinner table is not a success, it is desperation. In this country, reaching a tank of gasoline is no longer a feat, it is a luxury. The President says it can be filled 10 times, and we ask: Well, can the kitchen be stocked 10 times? Can they feed their children meat 10 times? The calculation of real life is not made at the pump, but in the kitchen."

"MINIMUM WAGE DETERMINATION COMMISSION MUST CONVENE IMMEDIATELY"

Reiterating his call for the government to make an interim raise to the minimum wage in July, CHP's Genç said, "It must now be seen that politics conducted with tank calculations does not provide a remedy for the millions whose kitchens are empty. The current state of the minimum wage does not align with the economic reality experienced by the public. As the cost of living deepens, citizens are forced to make more sacrifices every day to maintain their daily lives. The Minimum Wage Determination Commission must convene immediately, and a wage increase that allows workers to live humanely must be announced to the public in July."

News Source: 12punto