CHP MP and District Chairman Visited and Evaluated TÜİK’s Food Inflation

ZEHRA DEGIRMECI/SIBEL KAHRAMAN

(BURSA) – CHP Bursa Deputy Hasan Öztürk and Yıldırım District Chairman İlhami Gün visited the neighborhood market for the current food inflation prices of TÜİK. Öztürk said, “We especially looked at the basic food onions and potatoes. The lowest price of potatoes, which are said to be 7 lira 70 kuruş, is 15 lira. The cheapest and lowest quality of beans, which are said to be 49 lira, is 70 lira. When we look at it, there is a serious difference of almost 70, 100 percent between the basic food and many vegetables announced by TÜİK.”

Following the calculations made regarding the current prices of the product items that TÜİK has stopped announcing since April 2022 on the grounds that they caused misunderstandings, CHP Bursa Deputy Hasan Öztürk also visited the Ertuğrulgazi Neighborhood Market in Yıldırım district of Bursa. Öztürk was accompanied by CHP Yıldırım District Chairman İlhami Gün and district administrators. Shopkeepers and citizens complained to Öztürk about the market prices.

A citizen who was asked by Öztürk, “How are you?” said, “We would be fine if it weren’t expensive, but we are not fine because it is expensive. According to the minister, everything is rosy. May God make our ending good.”

Bursa tradesmen said that the cheapest onion price per kilo was 17.50 TL, while the current price list determined according to TÜİK inflation stated that it was 7.76 TL. Another market tradesman stated that they had never sold onions for 7.76 TL in June and that 15 TL was not enough to save them now.

“Citizens cannot buy watermelons”

Another citizen said, “How long does a person live? You can buy a car every 220 years. They say you should die and not buy anything. My child will not be able to buy anything, my brother. They will balance the situation of Turkey nicely. If you give 100 to one and 10 to the other, will that be okay?”

The vendor selling okra said, “Citizens cannot buy watermelon. It is the season for okra, but they cannot buy it. Although I am a tradesman, I cannot fully meet some of our needs. Most of our customers are retired. If their situation was a little better, we would also sell.”

In the current price list prepared by TÜİK, it was stated that the price of olive oil was 113 TL. Bursa tradesmen announced that Gemlik olive oil was 350 TL per kilo, and the cheapest olive oil was sold for around 300 TL.

“I educated two children during the time of the party they did not like”

A citizen who saw Öztürk at the market expressed his reaction to the high cost of living with the following words:

“I am rebelling against the high cost of living. Our retirement salaries are certain. 20 years ago, I took care of my grandchildren. I made puree from 6-7 different fruits and fed them without asking for money. This year, I couldn’t buy a kilo of strawberries for myself and eat them, I couldn’t make jam. Before, I used to buy whatever I wanted from the front of the stalls. Now I go and ask, ‘Do you have any second-hand things that were set aside?’ I educated two children during the party they didn’t like. I married both of them debt-free. I also bought a house for one of them with the work of a single person. Right now, I want to see if a person with two children living in a rented house can buy a house with the work of a single person.”

“Change happens when the one at the top leaves”

Another citizen who was a shopkeeper in the market rebelled against the government with the words “The basic salary paid was 2 thousand 400 liras. My basic salary was 7 thousand 500 liras. Normally I would receive 10 thousand liras with the raise, they will give 10 thousand again. Now a world of retirees are rebelling. Can they change it, they can’t. The only change is that the top one goes and someone else comes, but that’s how it happens. There’s nothing to do. This era, while he’s there, there’s nothing he can do about inflation or sales.”

“Come to the market and calculate the numbers then”

Öztürk, who made an evaluation regarding the market visit, said:

“After the TÜİK data, we visited the market. We especially looked at the basic food onions and potatoes. The lowest price of the potato called 7 lira 70 kuruş is 15 lira. The cheapest and lowest quality of the dry beans called 49 lira is 70 lira. When you look at it, there is a serious difference of almost 70 to 100 percent between the basic food and many vegetables announced by TÜİK. When we visit in general, both the tradesmen and our people complain about the prices and the serious low purchasing power. Our market place is also a region where there are generally civil servants, retired civil servants, retired and workers. We are not in a luxurious neighborhood below the middle class. Prices are generally close to the lowest average. Of course, we saw that everyone is impatiently waiting for the re-evaluation and increase of the salaries to be paid to the retired and minimum wage earners. Here, we are calling out to the TÜİK president once again. Come to the market, look at the prices, calculate the figures according to those basic changes. Every wrong figure you calculate is money stolen from the labor of the people and the pockets of the retired. Don’t continue this. Come to the market and see the prices. We warn them once again to reflect the changes correctly by checking on-site. Otherwise, one day, the people will call the TÜİK, which deceived and defrauded its people, to account.”

“Market is a fire place”

CHP Yıldırım District Chairman İlhami Gün made the following assessment:

“Today, we visited the Ertuğrulgazi Neighborhood Market, observed the prices on the stalls, and listened to the complaints of our vendors. We compared the prices in the market with the prices determined by TÜİK. There is a huge gap. We are really curious about where TÜİK actually gets its food inflation from when determining it. If there is such a price, let them take us to the market so that we can see it. The market is a hotbed. Vendors sell less than half of the products they brought in compared to last year in terms of tonnage. Therefore, when we look at the market, there is no serious liveliness. There is a very serious problem with purchasing power. We are also faced with the reality of serious unemployment in our country. While retirees cannot survive on a salary of 10 thousand liras, it is not possible for our unemployed people to hold on to life and meet their living needs in the face of this high cost of living. TÜİK should immediately take into account the real prices in the market and determine the food inflation accordingly. Especially in this country, we encounter periods when TÜİK’s inflation rates hit rock bottom during the periods when workers and laborers receive raises. Therefore, by hiding the real inflation, they are negatively affecting the rate of increase that people should receive in their salaries. They are also stealing the income that people deserve and should receive with these methods. Frankly, TÜİK managers are determining inflation with the methods of stealing money from the pockets of people in this country. We strongly condemn this and expect the real inflation figures to be announced immediately.”