A retired man who couldn't make ends meet rebelled: I've never seen such cruelty.

The ever-increasing cost of living and rising inflation in Türkiye have put retirees, who are condemned to poverty pensions, in a difficult position. Unable to make ends meet, retirees have protested. A 71-year-old retiree expressed his financial difficulties with these words:

"Which economy are you asking about, my fellow countryman? Which economy are you asking about, which life are you asking about? We came to commit suicide. I am retired, we came to commit suicide. I am 71 years old, I have never seen such cruelty in my life."

"THEY GAVE ME TO DIE"

The Yalçınkaya couple, however, stated that they are struggling to cover both their healthcare expenses and basic living expenses. "We're struggling. Our only hope is a comfortable living wage. I was earning 45,000 lira when I was working. They retired me and put me on a 14,000 lira pension. They told me, 'Take this and die.' People are getting older now. They're getting older, and they're always spending money on medicine. I get an eye injection, and it costs 7,500 lira. My wife has cancer, and it's a lot of money. What if the government could help a little? They've all gone up. Now I asked, and she says it's 3,500 lira. Those are the devices we use for cancer. Isn't it a sin? Shouldn't we eat them? Peppers are now 50 lira a kilo, bad peppers. Tomatoes are 80 lira. You're already getting the worst kind, grown with hormones. We're never in a good situation, so I hope it gets better. What can we say?" they explained their difficulties.

"THE RETIRED PERSON IS VERY MAD"

Ethem Mutlu, 68, also stated that they were completely disconnected from social life and had to take on additional work to survive:

"We're retired, thank goodness, we get by so well. Where's the living, nephew? It's over, it's over. Our life is over, there's no such thing. You can't make ends meet on 16-20 thousand lira. We're finished. I have no social life. Retirees come and cry at the wall. God has left retirement to do. May God help the retired. Retirees are miserable, very miserable. You can't make ends meet like this, nephew. What do we expect? They need to pay at least minimum wage. Give them at least minimum wage, so we can breathe easy. We go and work as guards here and there. Retirees work in the mountains and rocks. I'm retired, but making ends meet is finished, finished. Life, conditions are very difficult. Your money means nothing. A single burrito costs 400-500 lira. How are you going to earn 500? Earning it is cruelty, spending it for a minute. Honestly, life is finished, finished. It's very difficult."

"I CAN'T FEE MY HUSBAND"

A 73-year-old retiree said that citizens involved in agriculture and animal husbandry are also in dire straits. "I can't even feed my wife," he said. "My expectation is to serve the public. Fertilizer has reached 30,000 tons. Wheat costs 12 lira. Come on, save us. What can we do? Diesel costs 55 lira. The situation is bad. May God bring us a good ending. It's hard. Anyway, we're 73 years old, and the future is bleak for young people. They can't marry or start a family. They can't."

Another retired woman stated that she had lost hope, saying, "I'm retired, but it's not enough. It's very difficult. You pay 10,000-15,000 lira in rent, but you can't even afford to eat. Your children are in school, but there's no money. Life is very difficult. Frankly, the government needs to change. That's what we expect. He's been here for years; he should just leave."

"WE ARE WAITING FOR A CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT"

"Are living conditions that easy?" asked a resident of Kayseri, drawing attention to the market situation and saying, "As you can see, we are in a bad situation. Our expectation is for the economy to improve, for the people's welfare to increase, or rather, for the government to change."

Another retired woman described the difficulties she faced, saying, "I'm retired, and I'm having a hard time getting by. We can't make ends meet anymore. I swear, I have no expectations left from either the state or the nation. This nation doesn't learn, and neither does the state."

"WE CAN'T GET ANYTHING"

65-year-old Mustafa Solşahin emphasized that it is impossible to survive for a month on his pension and said:

Life conditions and the economy in Kayseri have never been good. Why won't they? I was born and raised in Kayseri. Those old times, those people, those tradesmen, that economy, that dynamism are gone. I'm retired, and my salary just became 16,881 lira. If you believe it, today is the 26th of the month. So, there's no money left. They need to find a solution to this. They did what they did in 2008, passed a law. After that, pensions started falling every month. It's difficult for the current economy to recover, but it would be good for a future government to address this economy.

Another retired woman, who stated she had a dollar debt, said, "How are we going to pay it? May God help us. Look, we can't buy anything. We just watch from afar and leave. It's very difficult. It's even harder for renters. We have a somewhat old house. We're just putting our heads under it. What will the new ones do? May God help them."

Source: ANKA