Snow fell abundantly in Ankara and at night the thermometer plunges to -10 degrees Celsius. However, Dodu Isler, 61, turns off the radiators in her two rooms to limit the rise in her bills.
With official inflation at 48.7% year-on-year in January, the cost of daily living does not stop rising in Turkey and gas and electricity prices have become unbearable for the middle classes.
“We only heat the living room and kitchen, as little as possible. We try to warm ourselves with blankets,” says Dodu, a housewife who lives with her husband on the pension of the latter, a former construction worker who earns 4 2,400 a month ( about 154 euros).
Of all the difficulties they face, the biggest for them is the rise in electricity prices that took place on January 1 and reached from 52% to 127% according to a staggered pricing related to consumption.
Many Turks have seen their gas and electricity bills double or even triple overnight.
The cost of energy has become a recurring theme, especially among traders who pay higher tariffs.
Some bars now add 4 4 (EUR 25) to customers sitting in a heated outdoor area.
Breakfast, a “luxury”
Eighteen months before the next presidential election, in which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hopes to begin a third term, inflation has become a political affair.
The opposition and some economists accuse the National Statistical Office (Tuik) – whose director was recently fired by the head of state – of underestimating it by half and more: a group of independent Turkish economists claim that inflation exceeded 110 in January %.
For Hatcher Fogo, founder of the non-governmental organization Network for Greater Poverty, this record price increase since 2002 has impoverished all sections of society.
“Numerous families have drastically reduced their spending on food. Eggs, cheese or olives on a traditional breakfast have become luxury products,” he says.
The middle classes, once relatively resilient to crises, are now under pressure, even the so-called “white collars”.
“They saw the rents they pay double or triple, they have to look for smaller homes or in more remote neighborhoods,” Fogo explains.
Problems with solidarity
The consequences are dramatic especially for the poorest, who can no longer count on solidarity between friends or family.
“We estimate at 160,000 the number of children and young people who dropped out of school in 2021. I personally know many of the families our organization helps,” says Fogo.
“Some feel compelled to contribute to family expenses and drop out of school to work. Others stop going to school because they can not pay for their transportation or other expenses.”
With rising commodity prices, such as infant milk (+ 55.6% according to official figures), “many mothers give their baby dehydrated soups” instead of the milk that is right for them.
Ali Golpinar, a mukhtar (district manager) for 13 years in a poor district of Ankara, is at the forefront of observing the impact of the crisis on residents.
“I have been organizing solidarity boxes for the most deprived in the neighborhood for years. But for a few months now we have been having a hard time, no one has the means to participate anymore,” he says.
Even his association, which offers women free sewing, cooking or jewelry workshops, has been hit.
“Our electricity bill increased from λί 93 (€ 6) in December to 8 348 (€ 22.40) for the same consumption,” Mukhtar said.
Electricity companies cut off power to many residents who could not pay their bills, he said.
Anger grows and mobilizations begin: from Mugla (west) to Dogubeyazit (east), the tripling of energy bills has sparked numerous rallies across the country. At least two are scheduled for this weekend in Istanbul.
“We are facing a new form of precariousness,” said Oder Algentic, an energy expert, who accused private companies of pushing prices above real costs.
According to him, the protest movements are in danger of expanding.
The president feels the danger. Ibrahim Kalin’s spokesman promised on Monday that measures would be taken soon: “We will not let inflation crush our citizens.”
Source: AMPE
Source: Capital
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