Extreme inflation has become a permanent condition in Turkey. Many foods are becoming luxury goods. Arman Onal / Anadolu Agency
Many people in Turkey are suffering from extremely high inflation that has been going on for years. In December it was 65 percent.
Food in particular is quickly becoming more expensive. For many people, butter, baby food or toothpaste become luxury goods.
The central bank is fighting inflation by raising interest rates. In her private life, her boss Hafize Gaye Erkan also had to capitulate. Because she couldn’t find an affordable apartment, she moved back in with her mother.
Anyone in Turkey who complains about German inflation only gets a tired smile. Inflation in Turkey was almost 65 percent in December. Above all, however, inflation has been extremely high for years. Food is becoming a luxury item. And even the head of the central bank can no longer find affordable housing in Istanbul.
When market vendor Sabri Yavuz sets out in the morning to sell white cabbage and lemons, he already knows that he will go home in the evening with too little money. “We can’t make ends meet,” says the 45-year-old. On the table in front of him are piles of thick cabbages that he sells at an Istanbul market. People didn’t buy anything, many complained about the prices, says the father of the family, who often doesn’t know what to do next. The inflation rate in Turkey was recently at a whopping 65 percent year-on-year and is expected to rise in the coming months. This is driving people in the middle and lower classes in particular into existential crises.
The reason for the high inflation is the economic policy that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushed in the past: low interest rates, literally at any price. Inflation skyrocketed and exceeded 85 percent in October 2021. Only after the election in May 2023 did Erdogan lead with a change at the top Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance changed course. The key interest rate was raised significantly and is currently 42.40 percent. But the fight against inflation takes a long time.
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The fact that things have become significantly tighter financially for many people is also evident in supermarkets, where butter, toothpaste, olive oil or baby food are sometimes only put on the shelves with alarm protection. Last year, designer Mahir Akkoyun created a sticker to express his dissatisfaction with the price increases. “Is this product too expensive? Thanks to Erdogan,” it said, next to a photo of the Turkish president. Akkoyun was arrested and charged, although acquitted at trial.
Inflation in Turkey: alarm-protected butter, rents doubled
Housing in particular has become unaffordable for many people. In November 2023, rents nationwide were on average 86.5 percent higher than the previous year. In no other OECD country did rents rise as sharply as in Turkey. Because rent increases are legally limited to 25 percent, many landlords try every means possible to evict their tenants. Civil courts are reportedly groaning under a flood of eviction cases.
Central bank chief Hafize Gaye Erkan also complained about the real estate crisis in an interview that caused quite a stir. She couldn’t find affordable housing in Istanbul and so moved back in with her mother. According to reports, the head of the central bank earns around 5,000 euros a month and has therefore met with incomprehension among low-income earners.
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Erol Günes sells handbags at markets six days a week. “We belong to the lowest class in Turkey. We are doing poorly, the rich are doing well. But no one dares to say that. Anyone who says it is in jail two minutes later,” says the 50-year-old Kurd and father of two children. He tries to make ends meet with ten credit cards in his wallet. So far he has debts of 200,000 lira (a good 6,000 euros). Everyone did it that way.
In late December, debts drove a 42-year-old father of four to throw himself into the foyer from the third floor of an Istanbul shopping center. Clinging to the railing, he shouted: “I’m hungry, my children are hungry, I’m in debt.” The man survived with serious injuries.
“Inflation is destroying the middle class and leading to extremes. The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer,” says economist Seref Oguz. In street surveys, people report that they go to bed hungry and have to start working again when they are over 70 because their pension is not enough to survive. The minimum wage, which the government says 37 percent of people receive, has been raised to 17,002 lira (518 euros). Trade unions criticized this as clearly not enough. According to the employee representative body Türk-Is, the poverty line in December was 47,000 lira (around 1,433 euros).
Economist Oguz does not believe in the government’s forecast that inflation will fall to 34 percent by the end of the year. He doubts that the government will have the staying power needed to combat inflation. “To bring them down in the long term, orthodox economic policy must be strictly continued. At the same time, the government must also give up its populist rhetoric and implement strong austerity measures in public spending.”
Last year, Erdogan’s government repeatedly made election gifts worth billions. Observers assume that she will also dig deep into her pockets before the nationwide local elections on March 31 in order to win Istanbul, the country’s most populous municipality.
dpa/ro
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