Saadet Party Konya Deputy Abdulkadir Karaduman, while making evaluations about the agenda at the press conference he held in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM), stated that the citizens primarily complained about the expensiveness, unemployment, low purchasing power and the marginalizing style of politics. He noted that people want to meet their basic needs without being dependent on anyone and live in a manner worthy of human dignity. He underlined that the government could not provide them.
“POWER IS WORKING ON PERCEPTION WITH POLITICAL ILLUSION”
Pointing out that the government has dragged Turkey into a debt trap with a political illusion in the last 20 years, Karaduman stated that the government is trying to put the wrongs of its own on the back of the opposition and said, “A perception study is being carried out as if these friends were not the ones who dragged Turkey into debt swamp in the past 20 years, as if these friends were not the ones who by saying reform annoyed the people with high taxes and additional taxes and made them unable to breathe, as if these friends were not the ones who while saying we should make the social security system better, bring the millions of people unable to afford the needs of health and social, as if they were not the ones who talked about the bankrupt banks in the past and made people slaves 'look, I don't say they are needy' to the banks in their own time, as if those who transfer money to interest lobbies are not those who have been ruling this country for 20 years. With the study of perception; They attribute the cost to the three-letter markets, foreign powers, the opposition, and even the ingratitude of the citizen who shed tears saying that he could not buy a coat on the street.”
“CITIZEN'S DEBT INCREASED 200 TIMES, BANKS' PROFIT INCREASED 116 TIMES”
Drawing attention to the data announced by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), Karaduman underlined that citizens have been enslaved to banks in the last 20 years, and said, “While the debt of citizens to banks was 6,6 billion Turkish Liras (TL) in 2002, when the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power, today It has exceeded 1 trillion 360 billion TL. Citizens did not make this debt in order to live in much better conditions, to acquire property, to wander around. To meet his minimal needs, take my word for it, but they did it to survive. When we look at the same period, we see that sad picture once again that the profits of the banks increased from 2,9 billion TL to 336 billion TL. The debt of the citizens has increased 200 times, the profits of the banks have increased 116 times.”
“POWER FAILED IN THE ECONOMY”
Pointing out that there is a serious increase in the debt of the state, Karaduman stated that the AKP government fell short of the economy and said, “The public debt stock, which was 64,5 billion dollars as of the end of 2002, exceeded 179 billion dollars in the first half of 2022. The Central Bank's debt increased from $22 billion to $29,5 billion. Again, the debt of the private sector increased from 45 billion dollars to 236 billion dollars. The total debt of the state increased from $132 billion to $444 billion. Central government debt stock increased from 252 billion TL to 3,8 trillion TL. You look at the rate, and it went from 1 TL 68 kurus to 18 TL to 64 kurus. Both the dollar increased 11 times and your debt increased 20 times. When we look at the government's own figures in the last 20 years, the government has failed.”
“THE GOVERNMENT BROUGHT AGRICULTURE TO THE END POINT BY NOT FOLLOWING THEIR OWN AGRICULTURAL LAW”
Pointing out that agriculture has become a national security issue, Karaduman stated that agriculture has come to an end due to the policies implemented by the government, and said, “According to the Agriculture Law, which was enacted by the AKP, agricultural supports, which should be at least 1 percent of the national income, can never be reached this figure. In the next 2023 budget, the amount allocated to agricultural supports was 54 billion TL, only 3 per thousand of the national income. The amount allocated for food security and agricultural development is only 7 per thousand with 142,9 billion TL. This attitude of the government, this approach has made our nation desperately needy!”
“WE NEED TO FIND 75 MILLION TL FOR EVERY HOUR TO CLOSE THE BUDGET DEFICIT”
Underlining that the budgets prepared by the government reveal the policies of the government, Karaduman pointed out that the budget prepared by the government gave the largest budget deficit in the history of the Republic, and said, “They predicted the budget deficit for 2023 to be 659 billion 400 million TL. The increase in the last 5 years is 900 percent, this means that in 2023, we need to find another 75 million TL per hour so that this budget deficit can be closed. See; In the 2022 budget, which was prepared as 4 trillion 469 billion 600 million TL, we see that the most important expense items are interest payments with 565,6 billion TL. It has increased by 70 percent compared to 2022. What kind of debt do we have that you see such an interest as our duty? See, the total interest payments of the AKP governments approached 582 billion dollars. This figure is exemplary as it shows that we pay 3,3 million dollars as interest every hour!”
“MONEY ALLOCATED FOR INTEREST IS MORE THAN THE BUDGET OF 16 MINISTRIES”
Pointing out that the lion's share was given to interest in the budget, Karaduman reminded the government's approach to interest and said, “This money allocated to interest in this budget is more than the budget of 16 ministries and their affiliates, including National Education. It's pretty obvious who gets the lion's share! We know the sensitivity of the President and his AKP friends to the issue of interest, we do not take his words lightly, we have not made or are doing this as a political material. However, while you say ‘there is Islamic teachings’ and lower the interest rates, your Central Bank sells money with 9 percent, while your Treasury borrows at 20 percent. The state makes the nation even more indebted. I'm sorry, you owe the nation the explanation for the $582 billion you paid in interest during your reign, this explanation you couldn't make. You have to explain this!”