Özgür Özel speaks at 'We Cannot Make Ends Meet' rally: 'Inflation is crushing us, no raise is coming'

The Republican People's Party (CHP) 'We Cannot Make Ends Meet' rally in Gebze, Kocaeli, has begun.

The CHP, which brought citizens' expectations for raises in the minimum wage and pensions to the agenda during one-on-one meetings with President Erdoğan and Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek as part of the normalization process in politics but failed to receive a positive response from the government, has taken the struggle for livelihood to the squares.

ÖZGÜR ÖZEL HAD ISSUED A CALL

Describing the meeting between Mehmet Şimşek and Yalçın Karatepe and criticizing the government's economic policies, CHP leader Özgür Özel had issued a call, saying, "We invite everyone who cannot make ends meet to Kocaeli on June 30."

CITIZENS FILLED THE AREA

Doors opened at 15:00, and citizens filled the Kocaeli Gebze Indoor Market Area. A large number of people entered the area with banners in their hands.

Highlights from Özel's statements are as follows:

* You raised your voices, welcome. Those who do not accept getting used to poverty are here. Whoever is here has one single problem: Not being able to make ends meet. We will not stop until we get our rights. Inflation is crushing us, no raise is coming. Shame on such a system. This system has brought great poverty, great hunger.

* The streets and squares are ours. They say get used to insecurity, we will not get used to it. Receiving a share of prosperity is the right of the laborer. There is no such thing as demanding patience when it suits you and resistance when it suits you. I promise, we will not stop until the pension is equal to 1 minimum wage. We will also talk about the grade and the internship... We will succeed all together. We will not leave here without voicing everyone's problems. The Turkish working class will not leave its rights to you. We are also with the farmers. To feed others, one must first be fed.

* We want a fair tax system. Salaries start to melt away in the middle of the month due to the calculation method.

REACTION TO AKP REGARDING THE GREY LIST

* They announced that we have left the grey list. They talk about it as if the grey list was left over from Ecevit, Özal, or Demirel. Today, when they finally manage to get off the grey list with great difficulty, they present it as a success. What you call the grey list is Burkina Faso, it is Syria... It is countries that are havens for dirty money. Shame on those who present this as a success.

HE ANNOUNCED THE DESIRED MINIMUM WAGE FIGURE

* The minimum wage has lost almost 4 thousand liras since the day it was given; today's 17 thousand liras is equivalent to 13 thousand liras back then. We want a raise for the minimum wage at least equal to inflation. We want an increase at least equal to inflation. We absolutely do not accept a minimum wage below 25 thousand liras.

* Is it a promise to fight until the pensioner receives one minimum wage, is it a promise to fight until a lifeline is given to the tradesman, not the crony?

* Where will you find the money? We went, explained, and showed them. We said we want justice in taxation.

EARLY ELECTION STATEMENT!

* Someone comes out and says 'a 4-year period without elections', someone else says 'demanding an early election is treason'. Hear this voice from this square: 'We cannot make ends meet.' My warning to you is this: If there is no livelihood, there will be an election!

During Özel's speech in the square, slogans of 'Government resign, justice in taxation, and we cannot make ends meet' were chanted.

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

The location of the 'We Cannot Make Ends Meet' rally, organized by the CHP to make the minimum wage earners' demand for an interim raise heard by the government, was discussed at the Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting, and it was decided to hold it in a working-class city where a significant portion of the population lives on minimum wage. Subsequently, it was decided to hold the rally in Gebze.

While it was expected that the rally would address not only those living on minimum wage but all segments trying to make a living with their labor, Özgür Özel was expected to put pressure on the government to make the voices of those who cannot make ends meet heard.

News Source: 12punto