Ron Margulies Archive | ETOL Main Page
From Socialist Worker, No. 2784, 7 December 2021.
Copyright © Socialist Worker.
Copied with thanks from the Socialist Worker Website.
Marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
Turkey’s President Erdogan live on state television last week made for very interesting viewing.
Every answer he gave to questions about the economy caused the Turkish lira to lose some more of its value. Yet the president announced there would >be no change in economic policy.
And every time he stressed this, the working population of Turkey saw their wages melt away in real terms. This year the lira has lost about 45 percent of its value. Last month it lost 28.3 percent.
This means wages and savings are constantly being eroded at a time when the pandemic has already made the lives of working people and the poor uncertain and often unbearable.
As the lira becomes worthless, the cost of imported stuff goes up and the rate of inflation rises. It is currently around 20 percent.
This means that every time you go to the supermarket you know you will pay more than you did on your previous visit. You try to buy less of everything.
The poor in Turkey will often skip a meal and make do with a traditional “simit” a circular bagel-like bread covered in sesame seeds, with a cup of tea.
This week the price of a simit went up from 2.5 to 3.5 lira. This is not a huge amount of money 3.5 lira is roughly 20 pence. But it is still an increase of 40 percent.
As a result, for the first time in history, street sellers now offer half a simit. Having changed the political system in the country to what is effectively one-man rule, Erdogan now has a problem.
As the economy goes increasingly pear-shaped, there is no one he can blame everyone can see he is running the show.
Opinion polls show that many who voted for Erdogan and his party are drawing the obvious conclusion and deserting them. However, the next elections are not until mid-2023.
That is plenty of time for a growing wave of struggle, perhaps not yet huge but certainly on the rise. That could get rid of a president who has single-handedly managed to impoverish millions of working people.
|
|
Ronnie Margulies |
Ron Margulies Archive | ETOL Main Page
Last updated: 22 July 2023