President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that the period of travel between Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia with an identity card had begun during his Balkan visit in the past few days. However, speaking to the Milli Gazete, citizens pointed out that their purchasing power was melting day by day in the face of inflation, and said that they now have difficulty even going to their own hometowns, rather than being able to visit the countries where the travel period has opened with their identity cards.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that the period of travel between Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia with an identity card had begun during his Balkan visit recently. However, the citizens, whose backs are bent under inflation, cannot look very brightly for themselves regarding the travel period with their identity cards. Citizens, who say that their purchasing power is melting more and more in the face of inflation, say that they are unable to change cities within the country rather than taking advantage of the travel period with their identity cards. Citizens speaking to the Milli Gazete, stated that although they are happy for their own country, they will not be able to benefit from the period of travel with their identity cards due to bad economic conditions.
“HOW CAN I VISIT BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, SERBIA WHEN I HAVE DIFFICULTY TO GO TO THE HOMETOWN?”
University student Halil İbrahim Yiğit, who said that he had difficulty in going to his hometown after the exam due to diesel prices, said, “How can we visit Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia today, when we have difficulties in going home after the midterm and final exams as a university student? Previously, it was stated that it was possible to go to Ukraine with an identity card, but there was already a war there. I hope there will be no wars in these regions. However, the economic situation is clear. Unfortunately, diesel prices have locked us up as citizens. Let alone changing the city, sometimes we cannot change the neighborhood within the city. We just stay at home. People cannot visit each other in the same city. Although it is a nice convenience to be able to travel with an identity card, such agreements will benefit businessmen, not us citizens due to the economic facilities are not provided.”
“NOW I CAN GO TO MY HOMETOWN EVERY 2 YEARS”
N.A, 48, who did not want to be named, drew attention to the increase in transportation costs and said, “I can go to my hometown every 2 years now. It is 650-700 Turkish Liras (TL) round trip ticket from Istanbul to Amasya. People now go to their hometown once a year or they can't. Bosnia and Serbia, although our President gives good news that it is possible to go with an identity card, our economic conditions do not allow it. Of course, we would like to visit those beautiful places. However, when people cannot go to their hometowns, it is not very believable to dream of going abroad to visit.”
“ECONOMIC CONDITIONS DO NOT EVEN LET YOU DREAM ABROAD”
Underlining that he made a lateral transfer due to the increase in intercity bus ticket prices, Sadık Can Albayrak said, “Citizens with good economic status can of course benefit from the ease of traveling with an identity card, but they are limited. There is nothing that positively affects the low income citizen. When we have an urgent job, we cannot go to the places we need to go. Like every young person abroad, it is my dream too. If my economic conditions allow, of course, I would like to go to other countries. I would like to travel there and even make a life, but unfortunately, economic conditions do not allow you to dream abroad. Let alone going somewhere, how can we broaden our horizons when the simplest thing is to spend 4-5 TL for a piece of bread today? I changed my school because of the gas prices.”
“WE HAVE DOLMUSH MONEY PROBLEM, IT DOES NOT MAKE ANY SENSE IF WE CAN TRAVEL WITH IDENTITY CARD!”
Expressing that there are difficulties in reaching the basic needs, Atilla Arağ said, “We are in trouble for the dolmush money, what would happen if we could travel with an identity card? Of course, we are happy for our country, but we are also in a difficult situation as citizens. People cannot get up from work and go to their hometown. Everything is on fire. We also want to travel abroad. Especially Let's choose countries with easy access to travel with identity cards, let's see those places and add something to ourselves in terms of culture. However, while the economy is in such a state, it is difficult to meet our basic needs, while we have difficulty in our urban transportation, overseas business is a bit far away. Citizens are currently fighting for their lives. Gas prices have increased, I don't know what to do. We also want to hear good things. Unfortunately, we do not have the economic power to benefit from the period of travel with identity cards.”