Turks suffer from inflation and gas and electricity prices

Heavy snow fell on Ankara and at night the thermometer reached -10° Celsius. However, Döndü Isler, 61, turned off the radiators in his two rooms to avoid rising bills.

With official inflation at 48.7% year-on-year in January, the cost of living continues to rise and gas and electricity prices have become unaffordable for the middle class.

“Only the living room and the kitchen have heating, at the strict minimum. We try to keep warm with the blankets,” said Döndü, a housewife who lives with her husband, a former security guard who receives a pension of 2,400 Turkish pounds ($175) per month, the only source of income for the household.

Of all the difficulties they face, the most difficult for them is the increase in the electricity rate, which on January 1 rose between 52% and 127%, depending on the level of consumption.

Between gas and electricity, many Turks have seen their bills double or triple from one day to the next.

The cost of energy has become a recurring topic of conversation, especially among merchants who have higher rates.

Some bars now add a charge of 4 pounds (30 cents) to customers who consume on heated terraces.

breakfast a luxury

Ten months before the next presidential election, in which the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes to win a third term in a row, inflation is a political issue.

The opposition and certain economists accuse the National Statistics Office (Tüik) – whose director was dismissed by Erdogan – of underestimating its magnitude, which according to some independent Turkish economists, reached more than 110% in January.

Pour Hace Foggo, founder of the NGO Red de la Gran Pobreza, this skyrocketing price record since 2002 impoverishes all segments of society.

“Many families have drastically reduced their food expenses. Eggs, cheese, or olives from a traditional breakfast have become luxury goods,” he explained.

Once relatively resistant to crises, the middle classes are under pressure. “Their rents have doubled or tripled, they have to look for smaller houses or in more remote places,” Foggo explained.

no solidarity

The consequences are especially dramatic for those most in need, who can no longer count on the solidarity of friends or relatives.

“An estimated 160,000 children and youth will drop out of school in 2021. I personally know several of the families our organization helps,” said Foggo.

“Some feel compelled to contribute to the family income and drop out of school to work. Others stop going to school because they cannot pay for transportation and other expenses,” she added.

With the increase in prices of basic products, such as infant milk (+56% according to official figures), “many mothers give their babies dehydrated soups” instead of adapted milk.

Ali Gölpinar, muhtar (neighborhood manager) for 13 years in a modest district of Ankara, is at the forefront of observing the effects of the crisis among its inhabitants.

“I have been organizing solidarity boxes for the most needy in the neighborhood for years, but it has been bad for months, now nobody has the resources to contribute,” he lamented.

Even her association, which offers women free sewing, cooking or jewelry-making workshops, has been affected.

“Our electricity bill went from 93 pounds (US$7) in December to 348 pounds (US$23.5) in January for the same consumption,” the muhtar was alarmed.

He said that the electric companies cut off the service of numerous residents of his neighborhood for not being able to pay their bills.

The anger grows and begins to generate mobilizations: from Mugla (west) to Dogubeyazit (east), the increase in electricity charges caused several demonstrations in the country and at least two are planned for the weekend in Istanbul.

“We are facing a new form of precariousness,” said Önder Algedik, an energy expert, about the rate increase.

For Algedik, who says that private companies raised prices beyond the real costs, the protests could spread.

The president feels the danger: his spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, promised on Monday that there will be measures. “We are not going to let inflation crush our population,” he declared.