Fatih Erbakan calls on the government for an interim pay raise: He listed his solution proposals

Yeniden Refah Party (YRP) Chairman Fatih Erbakan attended his party's 3rd Ordinary Provincial Congress held in Mardin. Making assessments regarding the current agenda, Erbakan emphasized that one of Turkey's most fundamental problems is the economy.

Drawing attention to the cost-of-living crisis directly experienced by citizens in his speech, Erbakan stated, "Today, our nation's main concern is the economy, it is poverty."

Erbakan continued his words as follows:

"Citizens' bank debt has risen from 6.6 billion TL to 4.2 trillion TL during the AK Party government period. That is, it has increased exactly 700-fold. Farmers' debt has reached 1 trillion TL from 2.5 billion TL, and the debt of SMEs has reached the 3.6 trillion TL level. Our nation is in a miserable state in a spiral of hunger, debt, interest, and unemployment.

The Ministry of Health announced that it would hire 67 personnel for the 'Cleaning Staff' position in Ordu. 27 thousand 663 people applied for the job posting. It was learned that 10 thousand of these people were university graduates. It was stated that more than 23 thousand applications were made for the cleaning staff position of only 56 people opened by the ministry in Giresun. This is the point that unemployment has reached in Turkey.

The government is trying to solve the terror problem, yes, but it cannot do anything about the terror in the kitchen and the 'terror' of inflation in the economy. The government has started a new 'opening process' with the slogan 'Terror-Free Turkey', yes, but it has not yet made an opening for the more than 16 million retirees who have been waiting for a flat raise for 2 years and are struggling with a salary half the hunger threshold, for the 8 million minimum wage earners waiting for an interim raise in July, or for the farmers whose products and trees in their gardens were burned by agricultural frost and who are crushed under their debts. The government must also make an opening for the millions groaning under the terror of price hikes and inflation.

The hunger threshold, which is approaching 26 thousand TL, has almost doubled the lowest pension of 14,469 TL. Retirees are in a miserable state. The 11.55 percent salary raise that civil servants, who receive salaries far below the poverty threshold approaching 80 thousand liras, received in January has already been consumed; salary raises melted away and ended in 4 months. Tradesmen are also struggling with rising costs. Unfair taxes and bank debts have exceeded their limits. Natural gas, electricity, and rent increases have multiplied inflation. Farmers are in a miserable state due to rising input costs, low base prices, and agricultural frost events. Because the farmer cannot pay their debt, everything from their tractor to their livestock is under foreclosure. The total debt of farmers has reached 1 trillion liras."

Reacting to the raw tea purchase price announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Erbakan quoted the following words, referring to President Erdoğan's tea-simit calculation from years ago:

“The tea producer from Rize reacted to the government's announcement of the 2025 raw tea purchase price as 25.44 liras per kilogram by referring to the President's tea-simit calculation, saying, ‘Let’s see you do the tea-simit calculation that Tayyip Erdoğan made 23 years ago now. You cannot even buy a simit and a glass of tea with one kilo of raw tea; what are you telling the citizens?’”

Making an open call to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Erbakan also listed his solution proposals as follows:

“From here, from Mardin, we are calling on the President; yes, you are taking some steps for a Terror-Free Turkey, but also make an opening regarding this inflation and price hike terror in the economy. Increase raw tea purchase prices to at least the 1 dollar level, which is 38 liras. Provide fuel and electricity support to farmers, and announce high base prices as our teacher Erbakan did. Give a flat raise to retirees who are struggling in cheap simit and tea queues. Give an interim raise in July to minimum wage earners who are struggling to survive below the hunger threshold. Support small tradesmen who are crushed under debt. Provide employment opportunities for our young people who are suffering from unemployment. Transfer resources to the nation. Increase the purchasing power and welfare level of low-income earners. Act with the understanding of 'the nation first' instead of the understanding of 'the privileged first'. Ensure justice in distribution. If you do not do these, we will come and we will implement them with the understanding of National View (Milli Görüş).”

News Source: 12punto