DİYARBAKIR - Head of the General-İş Amed No. 2 Branch, Behçet Barut, stating that the economic crisis has deepened due to the policies of the government, emphasized that the solution lies not in war, but in democracy.

 

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), whose reliability is often the subject of debate, announced annual inflation as 43 percent, and the Inflation Research Group (ENAG) as 105.19 percent. While the gap between TURKSTAT and ENAG is widening, the decline in purchasing power and high inflation in turn deepens the impoverishment. Behçet Barut, Head of the General Services Workers' Union (General-İş) Amed No. 2 Branch affiliated to the Revolutionary Trade Unions Confederation (DİSK), underlined that the economy and war policies deepened the crisis and that the way out of the crisis was to ensure democracy and freedoms.

 

ECONOMY IS AT THE CRUCIAL POINT

 

Noting that the economic crisis in Turkey deepened with the earthquakes in Mereş(Maraş) on February 6, Barut said: "The rise of the dollar to the level of 21 liras reveals the crisis and inflation. The Central Bank had completely exhausted its reserves to suppress the dollar before the election. Currently, the reserve in the Central Bank is around minus 60 billion dollars."

 

Noting that the government will not be able to get out of the economic crisis with its war policies, Barut said: "Turkey is moving into a serious deepened crisis and the war policy continues to be reflected in the pockets of the people. We and non-governmental organizations have said dozens of times that war cannot be a solution and that existing problems can be resolved with democratic steps, but they were not listened to."

 

CONTRACTS ARE LOSING MEANING

 

Stating that the employment contracts they made as unions became meaningless due to the economic crisis that deepened with each passing day, Barut said: "The contracts lose their meaning after a month or two with the high inflation. This shows that the money is melting. We were able to save despite the expenditures. Today, although the laborers earn a wage of around 15 thousand liras, unfortunately they can no longer make a living. The situation of rents in Turkey is clear, the lowest rents are at the minimum wage level."

 

'THE ENVIRONMENT OF TRUST MUST BE PROVIDED'

 

Emphasizing that he followed the wrong policy in the economy, Barut said: “The credibility of the Central Bank is gone. The Minister of Economy is constantly changing, the policies of war are being insisted on. An environment of trust should be provided to the investor so that people can invest in the country. Against all this, a democracy must be built. Rights, law, justice and freedom must be ensured. There are very valuable economists in Turkey, they should be listened to. There were budget talks before the elections and annual budgets were calculated; however, the determined budget is currently at the end, and an additional budget will most likely be implemented with the sitting of the Parliament. This shows that the economy and the value of money in Turkey are not encouraging enough."