‘34 million people face threat of starvation in Turkey’

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Group Deputy Chairs Meral Danış Beştaş and Saruhan Oluç submitted a Parliamentary inquiry to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) today (October 21).

With their inquiry, the party has requested that effects of poverty and income injustice on all segments of society be identified and a commission of investigation be formed to quickly find solutions.

The reasons for the inquiry are briefly as follows:

"According to the starvation and poverty line figures shared by the DİSK/United Metalworkers' Union, the amount of money to be spent by a four-member family to be able to eat healthily is 2 thousand 431 lira (~300 USD) while the poverty line is 8 thousand 304 lira (~1,058 USD).

"In Turkey, 16 million citizens are poor and 18 million citizens live on the verge of poverty. That is, our 34 million citizens face the threat of starvation.

'Figures show the truth'

"The enormity of these figures alone shows the weakness of economic policies and the inability to rule.

"According to the latest figures announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the number of unemployed people is 4 million 101 thousand. This number accounts for 13.4 percent.

"While women's unemployment rate is 16.6 percent, youth unemployment rate is 26.1 percent.

"However, setting aside TurkStat's juggling of figures, the real number of unemployed people is around 17 million today.

"On the other side, the increase in foreign exchange rates means an increase in the prices of basic needs such as electricity, natural gas and fuel in Turkey, where the economy is dependent on import." (DŞ/SD)