Retirees speak out from Eskişehir: We do not accept a life of misery imposed on retirees

The All Retirees Union Eskişehir Branch held a press conference today regarding the salary increase rates granted to retirees.

Gathering on Hamamyolu Street in Eskişehir, the retirees expressed their reactions to the hikes with slogans such as "Retirees will hold the AKP accountable." The press conference, which also received support from local citizens, was attended by CHP Eskişehir Provincial Chair Talat Yalaz, Odunpazarı Mayor Kazım Kurt, and CHP Eskişehir Deputy İbrahim Arslan.

"THE PALACE GOVERNMENT WANTS TO SAY 'DO NOT LIVE, DIE'"

Bayram Yumrukaya stated the following in the press release:

“According to the January figures of the Office Employees Union Research Center, known as BESAR; the hunger threshold is 21 thousand 953 liras, the cost of living for a single worker is 26 thousand 712 liras, the poverty threshold is 56 thousand 942 liras, the minimum wage is 17 thousand 2 liras, the lowest civil servant salary is 32 thousand 861 liras, the lowest retiree pension is 10 thousand liras, the lowest civil servant retiree pension is 14 thousand 741 liras, the lowest widow's pension is 5 thousand liras, the lowest orphan's pension is 2 thousand 500 liras, and the 2023 inflation rate is 127 percent according to ENAG and 64.77 percent according to TUIK. What do these figures show us? We have all become impoverished, we are all being dragged into misery; the palace government specifically wants to tell retirees, 'do not live, die.' We all buy bread, olives, tea, water, and oil at the same prices, so why this salary discrimination?

"RETIREES ARE NOT BEGGING, THEY ARE DEMANDING THEIR RIGHTS"

While you lie in your palaces eating buffalo yogurt, dates, chestnut honey, and oats, the retiree goes to bed hungry. While you sit in your warm palaces, the retiree turns off their natural gas before going to sleep at night. What do you want to do? Do you want the retiree to die of hunger and cold? As if all this were not enough, you mockingly declare 2024 the 'Year of the Retiree,' and then offer 5 percent as if it were good news; you are making fun of retirees! That is why retirees do not forgive you. Retirees are not begging; they are demanding their rights, the rights they paid for in advance through their premiums, and they are demanding a wage that allows for humane living conditions.

"WE DO NOT ACCEPT A LIFE OF MISERY IMPOSED ON RETIREES"

We retirees did not commit theft. We did not commit fraud or swindling. We did not commit tax evasion. We did not plunder the assets and property of our country either. The lowest retiree, widow, orphan, and disability pension must be equalized to the lowest civil servant salary. Immediately after, legal regulations must be made to raise them above the poverty threshold. We do not accept a life of misery imposed on retirees."

News Source: 12punto