Controversial move by Murat Kurum
Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum faced backlash for treating a pensioner who said she could not make ends meet like a beggar. When Kurum tried to give her an aid card, the elderly woman refused, saying, 'I don't need it.'
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In Rize, a woman named Ayşe Yüksel, who stated that she lives on a widow's and elderly pension, asked Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum when the pension raise difference would be deposited.
Kurum asked his advisor and replied, "It hasn't passed Parliament yet; they will deposit it once it passes."
Kurum tried to give Yüksel an aid card that functions as 'cash.' Yüksel refused, saying, "I don't need it." The footage sparked significant backlash on social media.
Kurum's attitude was reminiscent of former minister Erdoğan Bayraktar, who had offered money to cancer patient Dilek Özçelik.