Sabri Tekir, Deputy Chairman of the Felicity (Saadet) Party, reminded that it is the last days of May, and stated that they offered solutions by talking about the real problems of the citizens, and said, “We do not look at the perceptions produced here, but the facts experienced; We will focus on the real agenda of our people, not on the agendas created by order.”
“IT IS WRONG TO SEE EXPATRIATES AS A SOURCE OF EXCHANGE”
Reminding that Saadet Party Chairman Temel Karamollaoğlu was in Germany recently, Tekir pointed out that Turkish citizens living in Europe also have many problems. Tekir added, “The government almost ignores the problems of our expatriates, whose number exceeds 5 million, living in different countries of Europe. It is extremely wrong to approach our expatriates in Europe only on the basis of the foreign exchange they will bring and the votes they will cast. Our people in Europe have been faced with different problems in many areas for almost three quarters of a century. Especially the exorbitant prices for which they had to pay to come to Turkey, especially in the summer months, due to Turkish Airlines (THY)'s exorbitant and inconsistent price policy. Some of the problems are that our citizens who have acquired a profession abroad cannot get equivalence in Turkey regarding their mastery there in Europe and the price difference in military service with pay is some of the problems.”
“INTEREST AMOUNT EXCEEDED THE TOTAL PRINCIPAL AMOUNT”
Stating that the problems of the citizens living in Turkey are deepening day by day, Tekir pointed out that the citizens are powerless in the face of ever-increasing inflation, and said, “The ever-increasing inflation is eating away at the purchasing power of our people like a monster. Inflation rose from 20 percent to 70 percent in 1 year, which is just the data shown by official figures. The unofficial figures are much sadder. The per capita income has been declining for 8 consecutive years. Our state and citizens are being crushed under the burden of debt and interest.”
Pointing out that there has been a significant increase in the amount of short-term debt that Turkey has to pay within a year, Tekir added, “Turkey's short-term foreign debt has reached a record level of 181,4 billion dollars. The domestic debt stock, which was approximately 2 trillion 748 billion Turkish Liras (TL) on December 31, 2021, exceeded 3 trillion 125 billion TL as of April 30, 2022, that is, within a four-month period. In just 4 months, the debt stock has increased by 378 billion TL! While the total domestic debt principal increased by 188 billion TL in the first five months, the total domestic debt interest burden exceeded 2 trillion. In other words, for the first time in the history of the Republic, the total amount of interest to be paid has exceeded the sum of the principal!”
“CAYKUR THAT MAKES A PROFIT IS IN LOSS SINCE 2017”
Tekir pointed out that Directorate General of Tea Enterprises (Çaykur), which was a profitable company in the past, made a loss after it was transferred to the Wealth Fund and said, “I would like to give the example of Çaykur. Çaykur, which made a profit until the day it was transferred to Wealth Fund, has been making a loss since 2017! What kind of equation is this that the tea producer is bleeding, the citizen cannot buy the tea whose weight reaches 80 TL, and Çaykur, who always makes a profit, is now making a loss every year! Only the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government could establish such an equation, and it did!”
“PRISONS THE ONLY INSTITUTION WORKING OVER THEIR CAPACITY”
Reminding the national garden that is planned to be built instead of Atatürk Airport, which has started to be demolished in the past days, Tekir stated that the government is the only one in the world in this way, and added, “Destroying airports and factories; There is no government anywhere in the world that makes a national garden instead! Countries develop by building factories and allocating their resources to production, employment and R&D. Of course, if they have issues such as development, social welfare, etc.! What is always said is that the Justice and Development Party did not live up to its name. In our opinion, it didn't want to give it up. The Justice and Development Party government could neither rule this country with justice nor develop our country! So that; There is only one institution in Turkey that works beyond its capacity, it is prisons!”
“GOVERNMENT THINKS IT WILL STOP THE LOSS OF VOTES WITH POLARIZATION”
Pointing out that the government is trying to make people forget the main agenda with other agendas, Tekir stated that the problems are obvious with the numbers and said, "Those who came and hit the wall at the end of 20 years, instead of putting their heads in their hands and asking, 'What did we do?' 'What is this situation?', 'How are these things? They still think that they can rule the country with perception, empty and meaningless discussion topics, instead of doing good accounting and looking for ways to make up for their mistakes. While the directionlessness, indecision and inconsistencies in foreign policy continue to produce heavy costs for our country, a worldwide food crisis is at the door. All countries are increasing their stocks. While the countries that want to ensure themselves at the point of wheat supply, they activate their armies, the rulers of the ruling party and their allies try to polarize the society through useless and unnecessary discussions based on historical personalities and our common values, thus they think that they can prevent or hide the loss of votes.”