Citizens react to austerity package: Start with the Palace

Almost a year has passed since Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek took office. However, despite the economic management raising interest rates to the 50 percent level, inflation and the high cost of living cannot be reined in.

The announcement that there will be no interim raise for the minimum wage in July, the fact that pensions cannot even cover housing rents, and the exorbitant prices of basic food items have, to use an idiom, broken the citizens' backs.

The “Public Efficiency and Savings Package” announced by Minister Şimşek and Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz has brought controversy along with it.

Şimşek announced that for 3 years, new personnel will only be hired to replace those who retire, the number of support staff will be reduced over time within a certain program, a ceiling will be placed on the board member fees received by public employees, the employee shuttle service practice will be limited, a common pool will be created for the use of public vehicles, and they will end the use of foreign-origin vehicles in the public sector, except for those legally permitted.

The luxury vehicle purchased with public resources by the President of Religious Affairs, Ali Erbaş, for his out-of-town trips had drawn significant backlash from citizens. At this point, while citizens want the bill for the crisis to be footed by those responsible rather than themselves, they frequently express that they do not trust the government's practices.

“THIS MEANS NOT LETTING CHP-RUN MUNICIPALITIES OPERATE”

Evaluating the public austerity package in Istanbul, Suat Dülger said, “The Palace is not involved in this at all. The Palace spends 1 billion 403 million, but there is not one lira of savings from them. This means we won't hire civil servants, we won't buy cars from now on, and we will even stop letting Republican People's Party (CHP) municipalities operate. Savings should start from the Palace first. The state currently has many unnecessary expenses, especially Erdoğan's... It is not clear how much the discretionary fund is or where it is spent.”

“THERE ARE THOSE FROM ENGLAND SAYING ‘CUT CIVIL SERVANT SALARIES’”

Stating that the state has many unnecessary expenses, the citizen said, “There are those from England saying cut pensions and civil servant salaries. That is the situation, meaning the employees. The measures will not work. It is impossible. They do not comply themselves. How can the nation comply with something they do not comply with? The nation is already saving. The nation is struggling to get by on its own, the nation is already in austerity, they themselves are not saving. All state revenues are being squandered by the AK Party. First and foremost, the President and the system he has built around him must significantly reduce their expenses.”

“IF THE ECONOMY IS GOOD, WHY ARE YOU IMPLEMENTING AUSTERITY?”

Criticizing the government's claims that it is competing with Europe in the economy, Ömer Bayramoğlu said, “If the economy is good, if we are competing with Germany, why is the economy like this, why are you implementing austerity then? He already has a 1,500-room palace. If he turned off the lights, the economy would improve anyway, but he doesn't turn off the lights. Now he says we won't buy 5 cars, we will buy 3. This is not something that will happen with austerity. You have already emptied the treasury from the start. How can you implement austerity on something that is no longer there?”

“JUST A SMOKESCREEN”

Some of the reactions from citizens who showed intense backlash to the public austerity package are as follows:

Adem Şener: They cannot stop the Palace. The Palace will continue to eat. They have started to eat not only the country's economy but also the people little by little. What does a starving person do? Theft, illegitimate jobs, eventually they turn to these things. What will happen to this order? No matter how many statements they make, the result is clear. They will eat us. From the plane the President uses to the spoon he uses, to the soup he drinks, to those breakfasts he praises, they need to make savings on those. If what they call savings is what we eat and drink, our best meal used to be pasta, and now even that is gone. The measures will not work. It is just a smokescreen, just talk. No one believes it either. Thousands of people like me don't believe it anyway.

“THE PALACE SHOULD BE CLOSED, ERDOĞAN SHOULD SAVE AND RETURN TO ÇANKAYA”

Boran Yıldız: The Palace is waste, the Palace is a luxury. The Palace should definitely be closed immediately while these people are living in hunger, and the Presidency can start its own savings by going to the (Çankaya) Presidential Mansion. I mean, there is no such thing as 'there is no saving from prestige.' It is a start to at least say to these people, 'we have started to save.'”