Erdoğan: Pension of 10 Thousand Liras is Not Enough

Pointing out that they did not nominate our candidates as the People's Alliance as partners for the March 31 elections in Kütahya, President Erdoğan said, “We entered the election with separate candidates to compete in the politics of work and service. I hope that this gentlemanly competition, which we see as a good race, will end in the best way for our city. Regardless of which party they belong to, every individual of this country and every citizen of Kütahya has a special place in our hearts. Elections come and go, but the love remains. This camaraderie always continues like a pleasant sound in the sky. "I pray that God will always preserve our unity, solidarity, well-being and brotherhood," he said.

“WE ALSO STRUGGLED WITH THE COST OF LIVING”

Noting that they are undoubtedly struggling with the high cost of living, President Erdoğan stated that retirees are among the segments he affects the most.

"Although we have increased pensions to levels incomparable with previous periods, he wants our citizens to live their lives in better conditions." Erdoğan said, “The minimum pension of 10 thousand liras is not enough for our citizens who have spent their lives to support themselves and their families. So, how do we increase pensions to the level we desire? As a state and a nation, we will work more, earn more income, and give our retirees the money they deserve from the resulting earnings. Now, some people are provoking our retirees by saying let's add 7 thousand lira, 10 thousand lira to their pensions. Look, we currently have 16 million retirees in our country. Adding 7 thousand liras to pensions means adding 1,4 thousand liras from the budget, which is approximately 10 trillion liras, and transferring a resource of 1,9 trillion liras here. Please note that I am not talking about the amount of current salaries. I am only describing the cost of the additional increase, expressed as 7 thousand lira or 10 thousand lira. In other words, even if we do not hammer a single nail in our country throughout 2024 and transfer the entire investment budget here, it will not be enough to cover this expense. Likewise, even if we used all of the earthquake expenditures for this work, it would still not be enough. If we transfer the entire budget of each of them here without spending a single penny on education and health, it either saves a little or it doesn't. If we do not pay the salaries of more than half of the state's employees, including soldiers, police, educators, healthcare professionals, in short, all civil servants and workers, then perhaps we can cover this additional expense. I express it by underlining it again. What we are talking about here is not the cost of our retirees' current salaries, but the amount of additional increases requested. "We are also aware of the injustice caused by the linear increases in pensions," he said.

“WE HAVE INVESTED OVER 21 BILLION LIRAS IN KÜTAHYA IN THE LAST 101 YEARS”

On the other hand, stating that the biggest proof of where Turkey has come from is the investments made in the cities, Erdoğan said, “In this context, we have invested over 21 billion lira in Kütahya in the last 101 years. We built 2 thousand 900 new classrooms in education. We established Kütahya Health University as the second state university in our city. We increased the bed capacity of higher education dormitories in youth and sports to 12 thousand 493. We built 61 sports facilities. We started working to give Kütahya a stadium that would suit it. "We transferred resources worth 2,6 billion lira to those in need in social aid," he said.