No mid-year raise for minimum wage: Salary increases for ministers and MPs announced
While the door has been closed on a mid-year raise for the minimum wage, ministers and members of parliament will receive a raise of approximately 28,000 TL in July.
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As the Turkish Lira loses value due to high inflation and the rising cost of living, the purchasing power of citizens has also declined.
While millions of minimum wage earners were anticipating a mid-year raise, the AKP government announced that there would be no mid-year increase for the minimum wage. There was also no increase in the base pension for retirees, who are condemned to a "misery wage" of 10,000 TL.
While citizens waiting for a raise in their wages struggle to make ends meet, all ministers received a salary increase of 28,000 TL each, effective from July.
According to a report by Erdoğan Süzer from Sözcü, the total amount of raises given to ministerial salaries in the last year has reached 76,000 liras. Thus, one ministerial salary has been increased from 8.5 times the minimum wage to 10 times the minimum wage, and from 14.5 times the lowest pension to 17.3 times the lowest pension.
ŞİMŞEK'S SALARY REACHED 288,000 TL WITH A 47,000 TL RAISE
The income of those who receive both a ministerial salary and a parliamentary pension, such as Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek, rose from 241,000 liras to 288,000 liras with a 47,000 lira raise. The salaries of these ministers corresponded to 14 times the minimum wage last month; as of July, they were increased by another 3 times the minimum wage, bringing them to 17 times the minimum wage.
The monthly income of these ministers, who also receive a parliamentary pension, has been raised to approximately 29 times the lowest pension. Their June income was equivalent to 24 times the lowest pension. The salaries of ministers rose to 172,514 liras as of July with a raise of 27,921 liras each. The gross salary of deputy ministers increased from 142,000 liras to 169,000 liras, the salary of members of parliament from 141,800 liras to 169,300 liras, the monthly income of those who are both ministers and parliamentary pensioners like Mehmet Şimşek from 241,000 liras to 288,000 liras, and the income of those who are both members of parliament and receive a parliamentary pension from 239,000 liras to 285,000 liras. The survivor's pension for the surviving spouses of deceased ministers and members of parliament rose from 73,000 liras to 87,000 liras as of July.