Turkey: Demonstrations with cooking utensils to protest the rise in prices
The city of Istanbul witnessed a demonstration of pots and pans to protest the high prices of goods and the cost of services, in light of record monetary inflation.
According to the Turkish opposition newspaper, Zaman, dozens of people gathered in front of a shopping center in Istanbul, and knocked on pots and pans, expressing their anger at the lack of prices.
The demonstrators raised banners reading “Reduce the rise in electricity, natural gas and basic consumption,” chanting “We want to live a human life.”
Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentarian Zulekha Gollum and many other people participated in the protest.
The demonstrators issued a statement saying: “Every day we wake up to a new rise in prices. We are not even able to meet our basic needs, from the high prices of food, fuel and natural gas to electricity and transportation, until we are almost unable to breathe.”
“People have almost one issue: high prices and an exorbitant cost of living,” the statement added.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
He added that citizens suffer misery, but the government is adding affluence to the wealth of the rich. “While people are sinking into extreme poverty, many large corporations and industrial enterprises, especially banks, are going through one of the most profitable periods in their history. In January of this year, banks doubled Their profits nearly quadrupled, up 370 percent compared to the same period last year. While people’s bread is decreasing, they are breaking records in profits.”
The statement demanded the cancellation of all increases in energy and transportation.
The Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions in Turkey had recently said that the hunger limit reached 4,453 liras, and the poverty limit was 15,405 liras.
The statement also called for the abolition of the special consumption tax and value-added tax on electricity, fuel, natural gas, transportation and all basic needs.
Because of the high inflation, the purchasing power of citizens in Turkey has declined.
The inflation rate in Turkey reached 61.14%, while the highest European country after Turkey in the inflation rate was Lithuania with 15.6%, then Estonia with 14.85%, which indicates a large gap between Turkey and European countries in inflation rates.
