10.10.2026 11:20
Ali Naili Erdem, 99, who served as a minister for four terms, as deputy prime minister for one term, and as a member of parliament for 20 years, gave up buying okra after learning that it cost 500 lira per kilo and finding it expensive.
A dialogue experienced by 99-year-old Ali Naili Erdem, one of the senior figures of Turkish politics, who served as a minister for 4 terms and as deputy prime minister for one term, drew attention. Nefes newspaper columnist Memduh Bayraktaroğlu brought his phone conversation with former politician Ali Naili Erdem and the event he witnessed to his column.
"A KILO IS 500 LIRA, LEAVE IT, WE CAN'T EAT IT"
According to Bayraktaroğlu, Ali Naili Erdem, who lives on a retirement pension, instructed the apartment building attendant, “Go and ask whether there is okra. How much is a kilo?” When the attendant returned shortly and said that a kilo of okra was 500 lira, the 99-year-old former minister found the price high. Erdem gave up buying okra, saying, “Leave it, my child, we can’t eat it.”
"THE STATE MAN WHO CALCULATES ONE KILO OF OKRA"
Evaluating the situation experienced by the former minister through the changes in wealth and mentality in the political world, Bayraktaroğlu emphasized the budget calculation that a figure who served the state for many years has to make today. Erdem, who served as a minister four times, deputy prime minister once, a member of parliament for 20 years, and as a freelance lawyer, drew attention for his honest and modest lifestyle.