The pension system, which is the biggest problem of working life in Turkey, started to be discussed more intensely with the passing of the Retirement Age Victims (EYT) law.
Millions of citizens who missed EYT for a short time became aggrieved after EYT members, who sought their rights for years, attained retirement, which is their constitutional right.
Millions of employees, who call themselves “2000s” and who missed EYT for 1 month, have to work for years because of the weirdness of the pension law.
Answering the questions of the Milli Gazete regarding the problems in the pension law, Gökçe Kurtulmuş, President of the Association of Seeking Justice in Pensions, expressed the injustice of working life in our country.
“WE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK UNTIL OUR GRIEVANCE ARE SOLVED”
First of all, can we get to know you and the Association of Seeking Justice in Retirement?
Our association was established after 8 September 1999 to defend the rights of victims who entered Social Insurance Institution (SSK) and abducted EYT. After the EYT law enacted in March, we established the Association of Seekers for Justice in Retirement 5 months ago. Because of the injustice in the pension system, we have to work 17-20 years longer. We try to explain our just struggle through activities, press releases, visits, field studies and social media campaigns. We are trying to tell our troubles and make our voices heard. We will continue to work until our grievance is resolved.
“IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO WORK FOR MORE THAN 25 CONTINUOUS YEARS UNDER TURKISH CONDITIONS”
What exactly do you want as the Association of Seekers for Justice in Retirement?
As a requirement of the equality article of the Constitution, every person who is a citizen of the Republic of Turkey is equal. However, employees are separated into before and after 1999. There are people who have to work more than 1-2 months for 17-20 years and do not retire. Therefore, a regulation on the pension law should be made. At this point, we say; Let there be 25 years of service in SSK, and those who fill a certain premium day will retire without a cause. It is necessary to retire without any age requirement. Because it is not possible for a person to work continuously for more than 25 years under the conditions of Turkey.
“EVERYONE KNOWS THAT THE 2000S ARE VICTIMS”
Recently, you have received serious work both in the Parliament, on social media and in the field. As the Association of Seeking Justice in Retirement, have these efforts brought any results?
We recently went to the Parliament as the Association of Seekers for Justice in Retirement. We talked to all parties without any discrimination and told our problems. Everyone knows that the 2000s were victims. Everywhere we went, we were told that a study was carried out against this victimization. But we do not know what is the content of these studies, what is the end. For this reason, we try to be active both on the field and on social media and make our voices heard. We are trying to organize as the 2000s. Because our number is not limited to 3-5 million like EYT members. We are 16 million victims and we are seeking our rights.
"THE 2000'S NEED TO BE UNITED"
Mrs. Gökçe, is there anything you want to say at last?
The 2000s need to be united. The 2000s need to be united, because our right is being defeated and there is a serious grievance. Both the opposition and the government cannot ignore 16 million victims. We have an upcoming local election ahead of us. For this, the 2000s need to organize quickly, speed up field work and announce their demands.