Erdogan pledges salary increase for employees, retirees in July

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised on May 4 a further increase for the second half of the year in wages of employees and retirees, Azernews reports citing Hurriyet Daily News.

“In July, we will further relieve our employees and retirees with new increases that take into account both the inflation gap and the welfare share,” he said holding a rally in the Black Sea province of Giresun.

“With all the improvements we make, we compensate for the loss of welfare,” he also said.

In January, the government revised upward the increase in wages for active and retired civil servants to 30 percent for the first half of 2023.

His government completed the “infrastructure deficiencies” of the country dating back centuries and raised the service standards of Turkiye to the “highest level in every field from education to health,” Erdogan said.

They made up for the “centuries-old industry and technology deficiencies” of the country, we have met the demands for rights and freedoms that many generations have been waiting for, and have reopened Hagia Sophia, he said.

His government “ensured that the country has become a strong and effective member of the global governance system,” the president also said.

The opposition block will destroy the “domestic and national model” the government has established after “great struggles and sacrifices in the economy and make the country a place where moneylenders run around,” Erdogan stated.

“Lenders from Britain and London would give them $300 billion. Do you believe it? Is that possible?” he asked.

Citing to the investors and finance circles abroad that the opposition parties are in contact with for possible investment in Turkiye if the Nation Alliance comes to power, the president said he had talks with those many years ago, but the promises have not been realized.

“Fifteen years ago, I talked to the people you met in America. I told, ‘Let me give you whatever you want.’ It’s been 15 years and they haven’t come,” Erdogan said.

The president also called on Kurdish voters and said they had been cheated before by the illegal PKK group which he said aimed to do it again for May 14 elections.

“My Kurdish brothers should not look at the people in this Qandil [Mountain] and go to the polls. They deceived their Kurdish brothers a lot. They are still cheating,” Erdogan said.