The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Economic Commission announced its "Hike Report" at a press conference in Parliament. Speaking about the report, HDP Economic Commissioner and Istanbul MP Erol Katircioglu said that a significant part of Turkey's economic problems are caused by problems in politics. Noting that these problems have deepened especially in the last 3 years when the "Presidential System of Government" came into force, Mulecioglu said, "The tensions we have seen in politics in recent days are essentially a confession of 'things are not going well in terms of the economy'. Yes, things aren't really going well in the economy. The hikes in prices made life even more unbearable."
INCREASE OVER 100 PERCENT
Underlining that the pandemic also had an impact, Katircioglu said that the real cause of the problems in the economy was the wrong decisions made about the economy. Katircioglu said they have compared the prices of vital goods and services in the last three years, which showed an increase of more than 100 percent in many products such as yogurt, milk, pasta, salt, moon flower oil.
HIKE AND MISERY SYSTEM
Katircioglu read the prepared report later. The report titled as "Presidential System of Government is the System of Increase and Misery" with the following important points:
As of July 2018, when the Presidential System of Government began to be implemented, inflation, unemployment, exchange rate, current account deficit and poverty have set historical records. Although TUIK (Turkish Statistical Institute) announced the latest inflation figure as 14.60 percent, market prices show us that real inflation is in the range of 30-40 percent. With the transition to the Presidential System of Government, many products and services have been increased exorbitantly, contrary to the data of TUIK. For example, since the new system was introduced, the prices of wheat flour has increased by 214 percent, lentils by 184 percent, beans by 149 percent, salt by 104 percent, pasta and milk by 100 percent, electricity by 71.7 percent, natural gas by 64.1 percent. As a result of the hikes in prices, it has reached to a point that alarm systems against theft in baby foods and cheese have been introduced in the supermarkets.
POVERTY DEEPENED DURING THE PANDEMIC
With the pandemic, exorbitant increases in food products have deepened poverty and people have become destitute that they can’t provide themselves with their essential needs. During this period, there were exorbitant increases in many basic food staples such as fruits, vegetables, oils and pulses. While many governments have taken measures to protect their citizens against inflation, the AKP has deepened poverty by simply lending money. Thus, household debt, loan amounts and confiscation orders showed record increases.
4,801 PEOPLE COMMITTED SUICIDE IN 17 YEARS
With the transition to the Presidential System of Government, there has been an increase in both total suicides and the suicides due to economic reasons. According to the data from TUIK, 53,425 people committed suicide between 2002 and 2019. Accordingly, 2,301 people took their own lives in 2002, when the AKP came to power, while 3,342 citizens ended their lives by suicide in 2018. The most suicides during the AKP period occurred in 2019, with the transition to the Presidential System of Government. In 2019, 3,406 people committed suicide. On the other hand, in January 2021, 9 citizens attempted suicide and 5 citizens ended their lives due to economic reasons such as unemployment and livelihood shortages. Between 1-13 February 2021, 9 citizens attempted suicide and 7 citizens ended their lives. As it will be remembered, Elvan and Enver Demir, who were recently struggling with economic difficulties in Istanbul, died on February 11, leaving their 1.5-year-old child with a relative. Between 2002 and 2019, 4,801 people committed suicide due to 'financial difficulty', according to official records.
300 THOUSAND TRADESMEN SHUTTERED THEIR SHOPS
President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, 'Some friends came and said 'Shops are closing', here are the numbers, there are no closings.' However, according to the Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen Registry Newspaper, in 2020, approximately 100,000 tradesmen (99,588) closed their shutters by deregistering from the profession. Between July 2018 and December 2018, 45,011 tradesmen deregistered, while 8,199 tradesmen left the profession. In other words, more than 50,000 tradesmen (53,210) shuttered their shops in the first six months of the new system. From July 2018 to February 2021, a total of about 300,000 tradesmen (278,947) closed their shutters. In other words, with the transition to the Presidential System of Government, about 300 (290) tradesmen per day and about 9,000 tradesmen (8,717) per month closed their shutters.
TAX HIKES
The Revaluation Rate for 2021, announced by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance to be implemented as of the end of the year, was set at 9.11 percent. Accordingly:
As of January 1, 2021, the total amount of mobile phone registration fees, taxes and fees brought to Turkey increased by 9.11 percent to more than 2,000 Turkish liras.As of January 1, 2021, stamp duties for contracts, records, commercial paper, declarations, rescripts and receipts have increased by 9.11 percent. As of January 1, 2021, MTV (motor vehicle tax) tax on cars for all car owners in Turkey has increased by 9.11 percent.As of January 1, 2021, the tax paid on buildings, land and estate increased by 4.55 percent.February 2, 2021 The OTV (special consumption tax) increase rose from 10 percent to 60 percent and was applied to some cars.The Special Communication Tax, which started to be taken as the Earthquake Tax, was also increased from 7.5 percent to 10 percent. (EVRENSEL DAILY)
Yusuf Karadaş
Yücel Özdemir
