ELİF AKGÜL

Istanbul – Turkey's inflation rate hit 36.1% in December, the highest since the beginning of President Tayyip Erdogan's 19-year rule. The prices of products are too expensive to buy. While the natural gas and electricity bills force the people to live in cold in winter, we interviewed women about the economic crisis in Turkey.

Most of the women we interviewed told us, “We cannot make ends meet”. One of the women told us, “I voted for the AKP but we cannot make ends meet now.”

The first woman we spoke to was Nezaket Ada. She makes a living by selling bird food in front of the Şişli Mosque. She receives her husband’s retirement pension. “We used to make ends meet with his pension but we haven’t made ends meet for two years,” she told us.

“To be honest, I don’t use iron or the oven at home. I sometimes use the washing machine and dishwasher but my electricity bill was 400 Turkish liras this month. If I spend that much money on electricity and other bills, I will starve. The cost of a loaf of bread is now three TL. I live in a rental house and the owner is waiting for us to evacuate the house so that he will list his house for 2000 or 3000 TL. It is a free market; everyone raises prices as they want. There is no control mechanism. I want all the promises to be fulfilled. None of the promises have been fulfilled until now. The poor people become poorer. I sell bird food here to make ends meet. People should be like sheep, they should open their eyes.”

“Something terrible”

We spoke to a woman living in Istanbul’s Osmanbey neighborhood. She didn’t want to give her name. She also complains about the soaring energy bills.

“It’s something terrible. Before we paid 200 TL (Turkish lira) for the electricity bill but our electricity bill is 495 TL this month. We are afraid of using our oven, turning on our TV. I am a shopkeeper. I earn nothing to pay my workers’ wages. I spend my days and nights thinking of them. We need snap elections. People have to get their meals out of the garbage,” she told us.

“I installed a wood stove”

71-year-old Kifayet Şahin is a retired woman but she has to work to make ends meet.

“We cannot make ends meet with our pension. I live with my husband. We are only two people at home but we are afraid of using electrical appliances. This month, our electricity bill is 200 TL. Before our bills were 70 or 80 TL. We cannot make ends meet due to soaring energy bills. I installed a wood stove in my house,” she said.

She is a student but has to work

We saw two young women in front of Cevahir AVM. They didn’t want to give their names. One of them is a student and has to work.

“We cannot make ends meet because of the prices hikes. I am a student and work part-time to make a living,” she said.

Her friend told us that they have to pay 651 TL for the natural gas bill. “Even though we spent most of the time outside, our bill is very high. We have to pay other bills such as electricity, internet, and water bills. It’s impossible to pay these bills with a salary. Two people have to work to pay only bills,” she said.

“I will speak to you if you broadcast my speech”

“I will speak to you if you broadcast my speech,” 33-year-old Afra Çobanoğlu told us and she began to speak as follows:

“I live in Erzurum. Erzurum is a cold city in winter. The energy bills are too high to pay. I don’t think this situation will get better. I don't know how the next government will make it better. The cheapest thing is 20 or 30 TL. Our state should be a social welfare state; it should meet the basic needs of individuals and families.”