Election war intensifies in Turkey: Erdogan cuts off power to Kilicdaroglu

The leader of Turkey’s main opposition party has said he will sit in the dark for a week after a power outage at his home, as he refused to pay his bills in protest of sharp rises in energy prices.

A monetary crisis late last year sparked inflation and prompted the government to raise prices from gas and electricity to tolls, alcohol, bus fares and petrol in January.

“This is not a call for political disobedience, this is resistance. This is a fight for your rights. My fight is to be the voice of families and children left in the dark,” said the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP). ), Kemal Kilicdaroglu as he sat next to his wife at his home in Ankara under the light of a gas lamp.

“I will be in the dark for a week with my wife … I will sit in the dark to experience the pain of my people,” he said.

Annual inflation rose further to 61% in March. Many analysts have blamed the economic turmoil on a series of unorthodox interest rate cuts planned by President Tayyip Erdogan last year.

Kilicdaroglu said in February that he would stop paying electricity bills and called for a halt to price increases.

He said earlier on Thursday that electricity prices – which rose between 50% and 125% in early 2022 – had risen by more than 400% in three years.

Nearly 4 million Turkish subscribers were cut off in 2021, Kilicdaroglu added, without citing a source for the information.

Rising inflation has hit Erdogan hard in the run-up to national elections in June 2023 at the latest, in which Kilicdaroglu is considered a possible candidate for the presidency.

For years, double-digit inflation combined with the recent jump have eroded household savings and profits. Shopkeepers, city councils and a religious community have spoken out about rising energy bills.

The pound lost 44% against the dollar last year, largely due to monetary easing, which began in September despite rising inflation. The devaluation triggered inflation through the strong flow of Turkish imports.

The relaxation cycle was part of Erdogan’s new economic program aimed at boosting exports, credit and investment, and which the government says will eventually reduce inflation.

Petros Kranias

Source: Capital

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