The cry of retirees is the voice of dignity

In a place where needs such as housing, nutrition, health, and education are not guaranteed, and where even today—let alone tomorrow—is far from a life based on minimum rights, can we truly speak of democracy, human rights, or a republic?

There is, of course, a reason why I started this article with this question. Recently, during a protest by retirees, Ali Şekeroğlu, a retired police officer himself, took his own life at the protest site. The sign he held read: “Not for money, but for our dignity.” Yes, the issue was actually summarized in those five words. The current social and economic structure was trying to strip away human dignity. For dignity also means self-respect, honor, and integrity. At a point where basic rights are taken away and even a day-to-day existence is nearly impossible, it is not possible to speak of respect. It is impossible for those who follow such an economic-political line to respect you. Therefore, you must set out to protect the very respect, honor, and rights you need, and you must cry out for your dignity. This was the cry written on Şekeroğlu’s sign. Because what the dominant ideological and political order was destroying was also human dignity.

In the capitalist order, labor has a cost, not a value. For a capitalist, the cost of labor is no different from the cost of a screw used in the workplace. For that reason, they can impose a figure below the hunger threshold on you and get the government to accept it. These are not abstract words; they are the terrible realities we are experiencing on the scale of Turkey itself. According to Türk-İş data for August 2026, the hunger threshold for a family of four living in Ankara is 37,388 TL. So, how much is the minimum wage today? 28,075 TL. The lowest pension is around 23 thousand liras. Look, I am talking about the hunger threshold, that is, basic kitchen needs. In such an environment, what dignity, respect, or prestige can we speak of?

It is certainly not possible to reconcile the attitude that the capitalist system deems appropriate for laborers with humanity. However, it is again the laborers, the human beings themselves, who will resist this and ensure social dignity, justice, and equality. As will be remembered, recently in Spain, the Spanish people took to the streets and organized mass protests for human dignity because an 87-year-old woman was evicted from her home. Because the Spaniards saw that what was being lost was also the human being and their rights. The way to protect this was not through comfortable statements or posts written on social media, but through the streets. Because the street is another name for democracy and the existence of the republic. Where there is no street, all words used in the name of administration and governing are now just decorative. In a place where political segments are not warned on the basis of the right to dissent and politics evolves into flashy podiums, we cannot speak of democracy, but only of oligarchy. In an environment where the language of the street is destroyed and its breath is practically cut off, what is valid is not the republic, but autocracy. In an environment where conditions have become this severe, the prescription for a solution must be of the same depth and intensity.

The saddest part of the matter is that, especially in these days we are going through, let alone a social opposition running on a deep and intense scale, we cannot even see a minimum opposition. The “opposition” block I am referring to here is not political parties. On the contrary, I am talking about the people who claim their rights against the government, carry their objection like a torch, and will illuminate the street with that torch. The “people” in the most general sense, who are absent today. I stated above, while the Spanish people took to the streets for 87-year-old Maria who was evicted from her home, not a leaf stirred in our lands, let alone streets overflowing with people. To put it clearly, this is a shame. And this shame should remain as a note to be written in all of our accounts. Yes, there may be a price for this street, and there has been. However, the fate and future of societies that do not pay the price are also clear. Therefore, every price we do not pay will return to us as hunger, poverty, and a general loss of rights, and will leave us face to face with those terrible conditions in proportion to our silence.

Finally, it must be stated that a human is human through their actions, voice, stance, and objections. To the extent that the values we mentioned diminish, that is all that will remain of the human.