'Minimum wage for all'

Disk members rally in İstanbul to protest high living costs on December 12. (Photo: DİSK)

bianet's weekly summary of important events in Turkey this week:

Big hike in minimum wage but lira is sinking faster

When President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced next year's minimum wage on Thursday, it was worth 283 US dollars. It decreased to 270 dollars within an hour and to 257 dollars by the end of Friday.

Yet pro-government circles hailed the 50 percent hike as "historic," whereas the opposition and labor groups pointed out that the minimum wage, in dollar terms, was significantly lower than what it was at the start of this year due to the Turkish lira's massive depreciation. At the start of 2021, the minimum wage of 2,825 lira was worth 381 dollars.

The announcement of the wage hike came a few hours after the Central Bank cut the policy rate for four months in a row, triggering a further plunge in the lira.

Also, over the past few years, the gap between the minimum wage and average wage has gradually decreased as wage hikes in neither public nor private sector were not as high as the minimum wage hikes.

According to a recent report by the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey Research Center (DİSK-AR), the monthly income of 64 percent of all wage earners in the country is lower than 150 percent of the minimum wage. 

In the private sector, 44 percent of employees work for the minimum wage and 21 percent earn even less than the minimum wage, according to DİSK-AR.

With the latest increase in the minimum wage, these rates are expected to further increase.

Read more:

Will Turkey declare a state of emergency due to economic crisis? 

Minimum wage hike not sufficient amid 'deep economic crisis,' says union

Main opposition leader proposes dollar-indexed minimum wage

Only pro-government news agencies allowed at minimum wage meeting

Protests ahead of minimum wage negotiations: 'Don't let it be a wage of misery'

Drought in Turkey: Is climate change the main reason?

Over the past few years, the drought has become more visible in the country with lakes and rivers drying up, as well as giant cracks and sinkholes appearing in the Konya Plain, which is known as Turkey's "breadbasket."

These phenomena are mostly discussed in the context of the climate crisis, but the main reason for the drought in Turkey is decades of bad water management, according to NGOs and scientists.

A sinkhole in the Konya Plain. While sinkholes are a natural phenomena that have existed for thousands of years, the number of them has excessivley increased over the past few decades. Forming of one or two sinkholes in a year is natural but dozens of them appear every year now, experts say. (Photo: AA/File)

In an interview with bianet, Prof. Doğanay Tolunay said, "Yes, there is the climate crisis and consequently drought and negative effects that increase evaporation. 

"However, it is more correct to list the reasons for the current situation in Turkey as the failure to use water efficiently, the failure to save water, the depletion of water resources with uncontrolled development and the continuation of wild irrigation in agriculture."

Wild irrigation has been a problem in the region for decades. According to the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ), there are about 140,000 water wells in the Konya Closed Basin with only about 35,000 of them licensed. 

How much water is used from these wells and which irrigation methods are used are not known. What is known is that the level of the groundwater in the region decreases two meters annually, according to DSİ data.

Also, half of the 18 million cubic meters of water abstracted from the environment, including the sea, in 2020, was used for cooling, according to recently released Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data.

Out of the total amount of water abstracted from the environment in 2020, 45.4 percent was abstracted by thermal power plants, 35.6 percent by municipalities, and 14.2 percent by manufacturing industry establishments, TurkStat figures showed.

Read more:

Two İstanbul dams almost run dry: Is drought the sole reason?

Hundreds of baby flamingos die in drying lake

Lake declared Ramsar site in eastern Turkey dries up

Fish die-off in Kızılırmak River: Lack of oxygen due to drought

Drought in Lake Van basin: Water sources disappearing

NASA report shows groundwater storage is below average in Turkey

Ill prisoners

After four ill prisoners lost their lives in a week in different prisons, human rights groups raised concerns over the condition of ill prisoners in the country.

The cause of the death of one of them, Garibe Gezer, was announced as "suicide." There is suspicion of the official statement, as Gezer had previously claimed that she had been sexually assaulted and systematically tortured by prison officers. 

While prosecutors are investigating both Gezer's death and her allegations, a confidendiality order has been issued for both investigations. 

The lawyer of Gezer's family told bianet that footage showing mistreatment of Gezer was sent to prosecutors for examination, but no one has yet been indicted.

"We have been informed that an administrative investigation has been launched; however, the prosecutor has not talked to us. We don't know what it is about," said the lawyer.

There are at least 1,605 ill prisoners in the country with 604 of them in serious condition, according to a statement by the Human Rights Association (İHD). These figures "account for only a minor part of the ill," it said.

At least 59 ill prisoners have lost their lives either in prison or shortly after the execution of their sentences were deferred, the association noted. 

Read more:

Ill prisoner Halil Güneş loses his life in prison 

'Turkey's prisons have turned into houses of death' 

Politician Aysel Tuğluk 'left for dead in prison' 

Ill prisoners' families start keeping a justice watch 

Seriously ill prisoner still behind bars despite being released three times before 

 TOP ARTICLES

Media's hate for the colors of the rainbow

The hate and propaganda media has specifically targeted the LGBTI+ community during the Boğaziçi University protests. But how has the discriminatory and hateful news affected LGBTI+s? How should have Turkey's media covered these stories? Selay Dalaklı writes...

Media in Kurdish threatened with extinction in Turkey

While the opposition media in Turkey is faced with threats due to the content it offers, the very existence of the media in Kurdish is under threat. Murat Bayram writes...

The matter of 'ground zero of borders' and journalism

Despite being a journalist who reported from the borderline, the expression "ground zero of borders" disturbs me like a thorn in my skin. As you can guess, there is a reason for this. No? I, in this article, will humbly put my finger on this matter. Nedim Türfent writes...

 BELOW THE FOLD

CHP leader says he may run for the president

Two and a half into what is anticipated as one of the most important elections of the country, the opposition hasn't yet made clear who will be the candidate against President Erdoğan. The main opposition CHP's leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, said for the first time that he may run for the president "if the alliance accepts"

EU accession negotiations with Turkey 'to remain at standstill'

Ahead of the leaders' summit, the EU's General Affairs Council "noted with regret" that the country "continues to move further away from the European Union" and "recalled recalls its previous conclusion which noted that Turkey's accession negotiations therefore effectively have come to a standstill and no further chapters can be considered for opening or closing"

A new 'normalization' process between Turkey, Armenia

Ankara has announced that a new normalization process will start between Turkey and Armenia and has appointed its former ambassador as a special envoy for the issue

Citizen arrested for throwing Erdoğan's picture on the ground

A citizen reportedly took the picture of President Erdoğan hung on the entrance of the office of the sub-governor of Ereğli district of Zonguldak province and threw it on the ground. They were detained by the police and arrested by a court.

RTÜK fines Netflix, others for 'immoral' films, shows

The council fined Netflix over the movie "More the Merrier," which it said was "based on a fiction in which homosexuality, incest relationships and swinging are intensely experienced." It also fined the Exxen platform because of a standup comedian swore during his show

Heavy metals flow into stream as waste storage facility collapses

A waste storage facility belonging to an iron ore mine in Ayvalık district of the northwestern Balıkesir province collapsed

Armed attack on couple protesting mine near their village

A married couple that had been previously threatened were targeted in an armed attack in Aydın, western Turkey. The gendarmerie didn't perform a scene investigation after the attack, environmental groups said. The couple are left unsctahed.

Industrial waste directly discharged into sea 'to protect river'

As part of a plan to protect the Ergene River from pollution, the waste coming from the Ergene industrial zone is discharged deep into the Sea of Marmara

Organized homophobic attack by neighbors

A person was attacked by a group of people after leaving their friend's home in Kurtuluş, İstanbul

Trans women face lawsuit for 'standing on the street'

four trans women standing on the street "with their legs and breasts visible" are facing a lawsuit for "prostitution"

Konya massacre 'organized by paramilitaries'

A Kurdish family was massacred at their home by an armed assailant in August in Konya, central Turkey. New evidence suggests that the attack was organized by paramilitary groups, the lawyer of the family said

Kurds don't think human rights has improved much since the '90s

A new survey in Diyarbakır shows people think the state and men violate rights the most

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