Misery rate disguised as a raise!
ECONOMY SERVICE
The misery of the people has been officially registered. TÜİK 's inflation has officially revealed the poverty of the citizens. Millions have been condemned to poverty wages, as in every increase period. Public workers and retirees who spent the first half of 2025 in poverty; started the second half of the year with losses. In other words, the 'Lightning Program' once again gave with a spoon and took with a ladle.
Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) announced the inflation rates for June. The monthly inflation rate in June was 1.37 percent, the annual rate was 35.05 percent. The 12-month average rate was 43.23 percent.
According to TÜİK, the 6-month inflation difference compared to December of the previous year was 10.07 percent. The raise rate for millions was determined according to this difference. The raise rate for millions whose wages eroded by thousands of liras in 6 months was also determined according to this rate. The raise rate that workers working as civil servants in the public sector will receive with the 5 percent rate from the 7th Term Collective Labor Agreement remained at 15.56 percent. The salaries of those retiring from civil servant status will also be increased at the same rate. With these rates, the lowest civil servant salary was 50 thousand 503, and the lowest retired civil servant salary was 22 thousand 671.
THEY LEFT US TO STARVEThe increase for SSK and Bağ-Kur retirees was also 16.67 percent. The amount that retirees whose monthly salaries will be fixed because the basic monthly salary is low will receive was announced by AKP Group Chairman Abdullah Güler. Güler said, "We have increased the lowest monthly salary, which was 14,669 TL, to 16,881 TL with a 16.67 percent increase." Güler from the AKP, virtually admitting that they have equalized millions in poverty, announced that 4 million 11 thousand people receive the lowest monthly salary. The number of retirees receiving the lowest monthly salary increased by approximately 300 thousand people compared to the previous year.
According to Türk-İş, the hunger threshold was 26,115 lira in June, while the poverty threshold was calculated as 85,000 TL. The AKP government, which did not even make an interim increase in the minimum wage, left millions to starve once again.
Wages were also defeated by bills. While electricity expenses increased by 86 percent annually, mains water by 60 percent, natural gas by 42 percent and rent by 82 percent, 6-month rates were also high. Accordingly, the wages of those who earn their living increased at a rate that could not cover food, bills or housing.
ŞİMŞEK'S ACCOUNT IS DIFFERENTThe Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek, who is the implementer of the economic program of the government that is forcing the citizens into poverty, said to the citizens whose purchasing power is eroding, "Be at ease." Commenting on inflation, Şimşek claimed that a significant slowdown has begun in inflation in food, transportation, education and durable consumer goods, but the inflation rates that Şimşek describes as "slowdown" are still very high. The price hike champions were also among the products listed by the Minister. Preschool education and primary education were among the products whose prices increased the most in June with 6.77 percent.
The amount spent on university education increased by 108 percent annually, while the increase in the education group was 73.3 percent. Food prices increased by 30.2 percent annually this month. Annual inflation in transportation was 27.72 percent.
• Lowest civil servant salary: 50 thousand 503 TL • Lowest civil servant retirement: 22 thousand 671 TL
• Minimum retirement pension: 16 thousand 881 TL
Of the 16 million retirees, 4 million 11 thousand people will receive the lowest wage.Although the government blocked the way for a mid-year increase in the minimum wage this year, as it did last year, official inflation rates that were not reflected in workers' wages caused prices to be updated in every consumer item. While many basic consumer items from housing to natural gas, fuel oil to tobacco and drinks increased as of July, the minimum wage, which is currently below the poverty line, will not be updated in the middle of this year either. While purchasing power is eroding day by day and the welfare share is being suppressed with increases, the fact that the increases in every item are not reflected in workers' wages has drawn the reaction of millions of citizens.
The ceiling for housing and workplace rent increases to be made in July has been determined. The rent increase rate is 43.23 percent according to 12-month averages. The paid military service fee has also increased along with inflation. The amount to be paid for paid military service has increased from 243 thousand 35 lira to 280 thousand 875 lira. The final figure is expected to be announced by the Ministry of National Defense in the coming days. Another item that increased in July was the Special Consumption Tax (SCT). The SCT rate increased according to the 6-month domestic producer price index (PPI). According to the statement by the Revenue Administration, the SCT amounts of fuel, tobacco products and beverages were increased by the 6-month PPI rate calculated as 15.71 percent. With the increase, a price increase of approximately 2.26 TL is expected for gasoline and 2.12 TL for diesel. On the other hand, the lowest cigarette price is also expected to increase between 8 and 10 lira. The fixed tax amount applied per pack of cigarettes was increased from 10.50 TL to 12.1495 TL, and the minimum fixed tax amount was increased from 36.63 TL to 42.378 TL. The increase in inflation also caused the ceiling for disability pension, 65-year-old pension, home care assistance and severance pay to increase. The new severance pay ceiling to be announced by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance in the coming days is expected to be 53,924 TL.
LET THEM DIE ORDERPensioners, whose minimum monthly salary has not even been increased to 17 thousand liras, have turned every corner of the country into a demonstration area. Pensioners who took to the streets in 31 different parts of the country said, “If you condemn us to misery again, you will not see the face of government again in the first elections. A government that serves a handful of supporters cannot be a solution.”
The joint statement included the following statements: “The government announces low inflation every month through TÜİK. TÜİK’s inflation juggling act is not independent of the government. We have seen this movie. As a result; pensions have fallen more than ever and retirees have been devastated.”
Speaking to BirGün, Hüseyin Yıldız, one of the retirees, reacted to the increase and said: “TÜİK has been manipulating the numbers for years. As they say, ‘The voice of the owner’, this is exactly the calculation. Someone orders it, and TÜİK explains it that way. It has not announced the item basket for years anyway. Of course, there are no resources, there are resources but they are not for the retirees or the workers. AKP is creating a class of the rich and transferring capital to it. There is an oligarchy. The resources are transferred to the class they prefer. The mentality that says ‘Let them make it’ to capital says ‘Let them die’ to the retirees. We live with the help of our spouses, friends and children, wearing the old clothes of our environment. We give up something on our table every day. First meat, then fruit… If transportation were not free today, we would not be able to go out on the streets. When Erdoğan first came to office, he was calculating tea and bagels, now let them do it, let’s see, a retiree cannot even buy tea and bagels.”
Another retiree, Hasan Gürses, said, “These figures they announced do not show inflation. Let them compare them and see if there is even the slightest grain of truth to them. The dollar and the euro have gone up and down, but inflation is this much, if you dare… The rate they announced as inflation is just figures made up to determine salaries. I am a retired dentist, I receive a pension of 16 thousand liras. It will not even increase to 18 thousand liras now, but this will be an increase, right?”
THE PEOPLE WILL NOT PAY THE PRICE
TMMOB Board of Directors Chairman Emin Koramaz made evaluations regarding inflation data and the rate of increase for retirees and civil servants. Koramaz said the following: "TÜİK figures are fake, the poverty, hunger and misery we experience are real! As TMMOB, we will not remain silent in this darkness, as the huge economic burden created by the political power in order to maintain its existence is imposed on the public, and the cost of the crisis is made to be paid by the segments that earn their living."
KESK held press releases in front of TÜİK buildings in the country, especially the TÜİK building in Ankara yesterday. KESK Co-chair Ayfer Koçak reacted to the yellow union Memur-Sen by calling it a “garden pepper” while reading the press release on behalf of the confederation.
The statement included the following statements:
“The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) has become the boss of all of us today. The rain of price hikes we have been experiencing in the market, bazaar and kitchen for years is obvious. The real inflation is obvious. But the government puts the number it wants in front of all of us. We are shouting from here once more. These rates are the epitome of misery in the face of the real inflation we are experiencing. But the government continues to boast about these misery rates. Like a broken record, it repeats the chorus, ‘We did not let the workers, civil servants, retirees or minimum wage earners be crushed by inflation.’
We are ready to fulfill our responsibilities to defend the common rights and interests of public workers and retirees. For this, we call on all public workers, without discrimination, to stand shoulder to shoulder to raise the lowest public worker salary above the poverty line. It is high time to say enough to those who aim to equalize us all in poverty.”
TÜİK IS THE PALACE'S ORDER
Birleşik Kamu-İş also made a press statement in front of the TÜİK building. The statement said, “TÜİK has a calculation method that even mathematical geniuses cannot fathom. It continues to produce positive results from an economy that is going into negative territory every day, and to write results according to what the Palace wants when you add 2 and 2.”
The statement included the following statements:
“Approximately 1/3 of the salary we public workers receive goes to rent, 1/3 to food and 1/5 to transportation. They go to markets that have never existed and buy products that you will never find at that price and put them in the inflation basket. The result is obvious. The real rate of increase made in 2024 is 37.1 percent. The inflation rate of TÜİK for 2024 is 44.38 percent. In short, the wages received by public workers have been crushed even by the imaginary inflation rate.
In other words, public workers are being pushed into hunger and poverty with their eyes open. While this picture is getting worse day by day, TÜİK comes to the rescue to distort the facts. TÜİK came to the scene and did the task given to it. Next, the process called the collective bargaining agreement, which has been nothing more than a staged fight until now, will begin. TÜİK figures are not correct, there is a gap between them and the prices in the market, and if a realistic calculation is to be made, it will only be done with correct figures!”
DİSK executives and members stated that the inflation figures do not reflect the truth and said "Explain the truth, do not play with our bread" in front of TÜİK yesterday. The slogans "We want to live humanely", "social state, social justice", "DİSK in spite of it, union in spite of it" and "We will not surrender to misery" were chanted in the protest.
DİSK General Chair Arzu Çerkezoğlu reacted to TÜİK not disclosing the data on the inflation item basket for over 2 years and said, "Despite winning all the cases, TÜİK insists on not disclosing this data by trampling on the court decisions and the Constitution. We will never give up this fight. We do not accept this understanding of TÜİK that ignores the laws and our rights."
THESE FEES CANNOT BE CALLED HIGHStating that citizens see real inflation in electricity and water bills and in the market, Çerkezoğlu emphasized that even with the official figures announced in the first half of 2025, the purchasing power of wages is rapidly declining.
Çerkezoğlu said, "The income of millions has melted away in the face of inflation and they have not been able to get a share of growth. Despite this, the government still clings to the lie of 'the minimum wage is high'. However, the minimum wage has melted away by 3,336 TL according to the suppressed inflation of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) in just the first five months of the year."
BirGün
