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President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the public following the cabinet meeting in the capital city of Ankara yesterday (March 28).
As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), Erdoğan said that "while striving to keep Turkey strong and protect the nation from high costs of living amid global and regional crises, they do not neglect to adopt administrative reforms to make life easier for all sections of society".
Referring to the efforts to "simplify" the Value Added Tax (VAT) in the past weeks, Erdoğan said that these works undertaken in negotiation with NGOs and sectors "are also a part of their program to not let citizens be crushed by high costs of living and to fight inflation".
Reminding the public of the past VAT reductions, President Erdoğan said, "We have now decided to lower the 18-percent VAT on some products such as detergent, soap, toilet paper, napkin and baby diapers to 8 percent".
Erdoğan further announced that the VAT in all services of food and beverages will also be set as 8 percent, which will ensure that the 18-percent VAT collected in places such as first class businesses, three-star and above hotels will be reduced to 8 percent.
According to Erdoğan, VAT changes will also be the case in the real estate sector. He said that the VAT will stand at 8 percent in residences of up to 150 square meters. When a residence to be sold is larger than 150 square meters, the VAT to be levied on 150 square meters will still be 8 percent while 18 percent will be collected for the parts that exceed this number.
Erdoğan further stated that "the 1-percent VAT on the profits made by auto galleries in buying and selling vehicles and the sale of yachts, cruisers, boats and excursion ships will be increased to 18 percent".
Russia-Ukraine war
President and AKP Chair Erdoğan also talked about the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and the diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire in the region. Erdoğan said that "his phone talks with his Ukrainian and Russian counterparts are continuing in a favorable direction".
Referring to Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymr Zelenskyy within this context, President Erdoğan said, "I can express that the phone calls we have maintained with Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelenskyy are heading in a favorable direction".
Before a fresh round of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia set to take place in İstanbul at 10.30 am today (March 29), Turkey's officials will sit down with both sides for a "short meeting," Erdoğan noted.
The Russia-Ukraine war, which started on February 24, when Russia invaded its neighbor, has met international outrage with the EU, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.
At least 1,151 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 1,842 have been injured, according to the estimates by the United Nations (UN), which has cautioned that the true figure is likely far higher. More than 3.87 million Ukrainians have also fled to several European countries, with millions more displaced inside the country, according to the UN refugee agency.
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine will come together in İstanbul today. The two-day peace talks, to be held at the presidential Dolmabahçe office, are set to start at 10.30 a.m. local time (0730GMT).
Several rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine have been held in Belarus since the outbreak of the war, and the last talks were in a video conference format on March 14, with no concrete results.
On March 10, Turkey hosted the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine in Antalya, the highest-level meeting of the two sides since the war began. Although the sides failed to reach an agreement on a ceasefire, they agreed to continue negotiations over the conflict. (AEK/SD)
