Turkish Pensioners Protest Salary Hike, Citing Insufficient Increase Amidst High Living Costs

Pensioners in the Burhaniye district of Balıkesir, Turkey, voiced strong dissatisfaction with the latest salary increase announcement, protesting that the raise fails to keep pace with the escalating cost of living. A press statement organized by the Pensioners' Unions Platform highlighted the group's anger, with participants chanting slogans like "Take your palace raise and shove it" and "We want to live humanely, not on charity."

Nadir Devrin Şahin, head of the Burhaniye branch of the All Pensioners' Union, stated that the inflation data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) does not accurately represent the hardships faced by retirees. "Regardless of TÜİK's figures, the fire continues in the kitchens of pensioners," Şahin declared. He emphasized that the actual inflation experienced in markets, grocery stores, pharmacies, and rent payments far exceeds the official numbers, forcing millions of pensioners to live below the poverty line.

Şahin detailed the daily struggles, noting that income is constantly diminishing when faced with expenses for electricity, natural gas, rent, transportation, food, and healthcare. The situation has become so dire that pensioners are now more concerned with meeting their own basic needs than providing allowances for their grandchildren.

He attributed this economic plight to current economic policies, arguing that under the AKP government, the social security system's share of national income has decreased, while pensioners' portion of the budget has continuously shrunk. Şahin asserted that insufficient public funding for social security is a primary reason for low pension amounts. "The impoverishment we see today is rooted not only in high inflation but also in the deliberate weakening of the social security system and the reduction of pensioners' share of national income," he concluded. The benefits of economic growth, he argued, have been channeled to capital rather than pensioners.