24.08.2026 09:50
New Party Deputy Group Chairman Gökhan Günaydın claimed that the government is preparing a new minimum wage model, stating, "They are preparing to announce a regional minimum wage. In other words, they are saying let a worker living in Istanbul earn 28 thousand lira. Istanbul is expensive. But there are cheaper provinces. In these places, 28 thousand lira is beyond their means. Therefore, they are saying let us give them a lower minimum wage."
New Party Deputy Group Chairman Gökhan Günaydın spoke at his party's "Labor Gathering Against Consumption and Impoverishment Policies" event.
Günaydın began his speech by stating that he brought greetings from New Party Chairman Özgür Özel, detained Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, detained İzmit Mayor Fatma Kaplan Hürriyet, and detained journalist Merdan Yanardağ, saying, "Without raising solidarity, there is no struggle in this country. Many of our friends have also beautifully emphasized this. Therefore, we must not neglect that friendship and solidarity."
REGIONAL MINIMUM WAGE CLAIM Criticizing the government over economic policies, Günaydın stated that Turkey is the fifth country with the highest inflation in the world. Noting that agriculture began in the geography of Mesopotamia and Anatolia, but Turkey ranks 4th in the world in food inflation, Günaydın continued as follows:
"As of today, approximately 40 million people in this country live below the hunger line. The hunger line in Turkey is 37 thousand lira. The poverty line is 122 thousand lira. What does the hunger line mean? It is the money a family of four needs to spend only on kitchen expenses and food needs. So, what is the minimum wage amount in Turkey? It's 28 thousand lira, isn't it? At least 10 million minimum wage earners receive 28 thousand lira per month. Since when? Since January 1, 2026. Until when? Until December 31, 2026. The purchasing power of that 28 thousand lira has already dropped to 23 thousand lira. It will continue to decrease until the end of the year. We said, 'in times of such high inflation, let's at least revise the minimum wage every 6 months.' Forget doing that, they are preparing to announce a regional minimum wage. That is, they say a worker living in Istanbul should receive 28 thousand lira. Istanbul is expensive. But there are cheaper provinces. There, 28 thousand lira would be more than they need. Therefore, they say let's give them a lower minimum wage."
Günaydın said that all the topics he discussed were related to politics and were not above politics, noting that 17 million retirees live below the hunger line. Reminding that the lowest pension is 23,552 lira, Günaydın stated that 5.5 million retirees have to make do with a monthly pension of 23,552 lira, saying, "These people will not only feed themselves. They will also give some pocket money to their grandchild who visits them during the holiday. 5.5 million people cannot do this."
Günaydın said the government is pressing down on workers and peasants under the guise of a plan to exit the economic crisis, stating, "We are still facing the world's 5th highest inflation. This is not fate. This is a policy of impoverishment. This is also a policy of capital changing hands. It is a policy of cheapening the country. And it is a policy of selling off the country."
Stating that Turkey faces a dilemma, Günaydın said, "Either we will tolerate Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as long as his health allows, and after his mortal life ends, Bilal Erdoğan, and we will be their subjects, or we will say no. We will say no to them."
"IF YOU CONTINUE LIKE THIS, THE ROADS TO SILIVRI ARE IN SIGHT FOR YOU TOO" Stating that they have received great support from citizens since the establishment of the New Party, Günaydın said the public's objections are very high and they want to replace these objections with a new construction process. Expressing that Turkey has money but resources are not used for the people, Günaydın noted the following:
"There's no money, they go. Yet, in the 2026 budget alone, they are investing 2 trillion 740 billion lira in interest without batting an eye. So these are not economic choices. They also mean a political choice. Within this picture, we need to organize a policy based on increasing our resources, sharing them more fairly, and distributing prosperity. While doing these, we must make industry productive again and put agriculture back on its feet. Look, in just the last few years, textiles, Turkey's most traditional sector, has migrated to Egypt. The automotive supplier industry has migrated to Morocco. Turkey imports chickpeas from Canada and lentils from India. It's a country that has lost self-sufficiency in all basic agricultural products. Therefore, we need to rebuild, repair, reform, and make this whole picture functional, and make Turkey productive again.
I promise you this. Let's all promise this to each other. We will change this government. Changing this government is not just a matter of party A leaving and party B coming. We will actually change the regime and establish the power of the people. That is the issue. To prevent us from doing this, they say, if you win all the municipalities, we will arrest the mayors. Starting with Ekrem İmamoğlu, the fastest among you, we will arrest you. They arrested him; they thought we would collapse.
Then, then they seized our party through a Civil Court of First Instance. Then they said you have no cars, no assets, no money, no buses. How will you do politics? They couldn't predict this. We gave many speeches from on top of the bus. Honestly, they said things like you look down on the people from above. But there's no end to the pleasure of giving a speech from on top of a bench. Now they are also telling us, 'If you continue like this, the roads to Silivri are in sight for you too.' They say it very openly. We have one flag. This flag is no longer the flag of the New Party, but the flag of the country. That flag is in our hands. That flag is not only in Özgür Özel's hands. That flag is in the hands of the nation. We see this everywhere we go. Whichever of us they remove, we will carry that flag together. As they said, as long as the shepherd's fire lit by a single Yörük in the highlands of Mersin does not go out, you cannot bring down this country."