DURKET SÜREN

Istanbul – The economic crisis has been deepening every day in Turkey. The ruling party continues to carry out its policies despite the deepening crisis while the people try to survive. Women going shopping at district bazaars complain about the increasing product prices. We spoke to women trying to buy something for their families at a district bazaar in the Yenişehir neighborhood of Istanbul. Almost all women complained about the increasing product prices and said, “We cannot make ends meet.”

Neriman Elveriş is a woman trying to make ends meet with her husband’s pension. “We cannot make ends meet anymore. I had to receive money from my son to come here. We cannot make ends meet and don’t know what we should do. The pension is not enough. Politicians only talk because they don’t have such problems. I bought one kilo of fruit and paid 15 TL. We consume bread to survive but the price of bread is also increasing,” she told us.

“The economy sucks!”

Ayşe Günel, a bazaar seller, also complained about the increasing product prices. “The economy sucks. I have waited here since morning but I haven’t sold anything until now because product prices are increasing. Someone should say “no” to this situation. When we sell something, we become happy but we cannot buy the new product due to its increasing price.  Everyone complains about the increasing prices, the product prices are increasing every week. In truth, we cannot make ends meet anymore. I have to pay house rent, bills for electricity, water and natural gas but I have only 2000 liras pension that’s why I work here but the municipal police don’t allow us to work here. What should we do to make ends meet? Should we steal? I am now 60 years old and keep working,” she told us.

“We cannot afford whether we work or not”

Keziban Salman stated that they cannot afford whether they work or not, adding, “We cannot afford whether we work or not. Everything is very expensive. We cannot afford the rent and we have to send our two children to school. The measures due to the pandemic make everything worse. My husband was fired. He looked for a job for a long time. If you want to buy something from the bazaar, you have to pay at least 10 liras but we cannot afford to pay.”

“Sunflower seed oil price is 100 liras”

“Everything is very expensive, including vegetables and clothes,” Keziban Salman said, “Sunflower seed oil price is now 100 liras. We cannot buy anything now. We are not like rich people; we don’t even go on holiday. The economy is getting worse. God help us.”

“We back from shopping empty-handed”

“Sometimes we back from shopping empty-handed,” Naile Erken said, “We receive a minimum wage but it is not enough now. I take 400 liras with me to buy something for my family from the bazaar but I have to back home empty-handed. For instance, one kilo of fruits is 10 or 15 liras, one kilo of tomato is eight liras. I have a family of five. Two of us work but we hardly make both ends meet. Politicians claim that the economy in Turkey is good but nothing is good.”

“People have no money to buy good-quality products”

Emine Yel, a sportswear seller at the district bazaar, drew attention to the increasing product prices. “I try to meet my family’s needs by working at this bazaar. But people cannot buy anything due to high prices. I am selling this sportswear for 25 liras but if I want to buy it, its price is 28 liras now. For this reason, I bought poor-quality products because people have no money to buy good-quality products. One kilo of cheese is now 50 or 60 liras, we cannot even buy olives. At this age, I take and eat bread I find on the ground.”

“We cannot buy meat or fruits”

Şengül Demir began to talk by complaining about the high prices of products. “What is inside this bag is 100 liras. I couldn’t buy anything. We cannot buy what we want to buy. We cannot buy meat or fruits,” she told us.