Özgür Özel: Pensioners and Small Businesses Hit by “Historic Injustice”

Summary:

Turkey’s main opposition leader Özgür Özel has launched a sweeping attack on the government’s pension and wage policies, warning that millions of retirees and small business owners are being pushed into poverty. Speaking in parliament, the CHP leader said the crisis is not caused by a lack of resources but by “deeply unjust distribution,” vowing radical income and social policy reforms if his party comes to power.

“This Is an Unprecedented Income Injustice”

Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel said Turkey’s prolonged period of high inflation and low wages has turned the country into one of Europe’s poorest economies, with pensioners bearing the heaviest burden.

Özel reminded lawmakers that before the AK Party came to power, the minimum pension was equivalent to 1.5 times the minimum wage. Even based on today’s minimum wage of 28,000 lira, he said, pensions should be closer to 42,000 lira. Instead, retirees are now being offered a minimum pension of 20,000 lira, while the official hunger threshold has climbed to 30,000 lira.

“This is no longer a salary,” Özel said. “It is pocket money offered to people who spent their lives working.”

From Gold to Poverty

Özel underlined the erosion of purchasing power by pointing to gold-based comparisons familiar to Turkish households. Before AK Party rule, the lowest pension could buy eight quarter-gold coins per month. Today, it buys just two, meaning retirees have lost the equivalent of six quarter-gold coins every month.

He said anger among pensioners is now visible “in their eyes” and reflected in protests across the country.

Five Million Pensioners at the Bottom

According to data shared by CHP lawmakers, 1.2 million additional retirees have fallen into the lowest pension bracket in just the past six months. The number of people receiving the minimum pension has risen from 3.7 million to 4.9 million, meaning nearly five million pensioners are living on the bare minimum.

Even more striking, Özel said, is that 65% of the income of Turkey’s poorest 10% now comes from pensions and social assistance. “This alone proves the scale of income injustice in the country,” he argued.

Opposition United on Pension Demands

Özel said all opposition parties in parliament are united in rejecting the government’s pension proposal. CHP lawmakers have been holding a continuous protest in parliament, now in its fifth day, demanding a dignified solution.

He outlined CHP’s alternative plan:

• The minimum pension will immediately be raised to the level of the minimum wage.

• In the medium term, pensions will return to 1.5 times the minimum wage.

• Holiday bonuses will be increased to the equivalent of one full minimum wage.

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“The Problem Is Distribution, Not Resources”

Özel rejected government claims that higher pensions are fiscally impossible. According to CHP calculations, raising the minimum pension to the minimum wage would cost around 650 billion lira.

“That money exists,” Özel said, pointing to 768 billion lira in corporate tax revenues the government has chosen to forgo. He also noted that the state is expected to pay 2.7 trillion lira in interest this year alone due to what he called “failed economic policies.”

“In Turkey, there is no shortage of money,” Özel said. “There is a shortage of justice.”

Minimum Wage Trap

Özel also warned that Turkey has become trapped in an “economy of minimum wages.” In 2002, only 11% of workers earned the minimum wage. Today, official social security data shows that 45% earn the minimum wage or just slightly above it, with unofficial estimates pushing the figure closer to 55%.

CHP, he said, aims to restore the minimum wage as an entry-level salary rather than a lifelong income, pledging at least two adjustments per year and unconditional premium support for small businesses.

Small Businesses Face a “Hidden Tax Hike”

Özel accused the government of quietly increasing the burden on small businesses by raising social security premiums. Over the past 18 months:

• Employee premium contributions rose from 34.75% to 38.75%.

• Employer contributions also increased.

• The discount for on-time premium payments was cut from 5% to 2%, effectively imposing an additional 3% cost.

Combined, Özel said, small businesses are facing an effective 8% increase in labor costs, calling it “a direct blow to shopkeepers already struggling to survive.”

CHP’s Vision: Social State and Basic Income

Özel concluded by outlining CHP’s broader vision of a strengthened social state. He pledged to introduce a basic citizenship income, ensuring that support is provided based on citizenship rights rather than political loyalty.

“No one will need to be close to power to live with dignity,” he said. “Being a citizen of this country will be enough.”

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