CHP Deputy Chairman Erhan Adem: Ramadan pita bread is no longer about the table, but the wallet!
CHP Deputy Chairman Erhan Adem criticized the price of 250 grams of pita bread being set at 20 TL during Ramadan, stating, "Pita bread has become an issue of the citizen's wallet rather than the dining table." Noting that the price of a kilogram of pita bread, which was 2 TL in 2002, has reached 80 TL today, Adem emphasized that the culprits are not the bakers, but the policies that have destroyed agriculture and food production.
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CHP Deputy Chairman Erhan Adem issued a statement following the announcement by the Turkish Bakers Federation that the price of 250 grams of pita bread for the month of Ramadan has been finalized at 20 lira, saying, "Ramadan pita bread, once a symbol of abundance, sharing, and solidarity, has now become one of the clearest indicators of the economic crisis."
Adem, the CHP Deputy Chairman responsible for Agriculture and Forestry Policies, used the following expressions in his written statement on the matter:
"In 2002, a kilogram of pita bread cost only 2 TL; today, it has reached 80 TL. While the price has increased by 3,900 percent over the last 23 years, the public's purchasing power has not risen at the same rate; on the contrary, it has eroded.
Ten years ago, a citizen going to the bakery could buy several pita breads with the same amount of money, whereas today, they have to think twice before buying even one.
Ramadan pita bread has become an issue for citizens who are counting the money in their pockets, not for the iftar tables. Twenty-three years ago, a kilogram of pita bread was 2 TL; today it is 80 TL. How can this increase be explained? No one can blame the bakers or the tradesmen! The culprits are those who, while governing the country, have finished off food production, the farmer, wheat, and the flour industry!
The price of flour has risen, the price of yeast has risen, electricity and natural gas hikes have broken the backs of bakers, and the citizen's pocket has been emptied. Now they announce to us that 'pita bread is 20 lira'! Well, what will millions of minimum wage earners, retirees, the unemployed, and low-income individuals do? Will they sit down for iftar without a warm pita bread on their table?
This system cannot go on like this! These policies that leave the public in need of their own bread must change. Because bread is not just food; it is the most fundamental right of the people. And we will continue our struggle against this system that steals the people's bread until the end!"