22.01.2026 01:31
Speaking at a rally organized by his party in the Çekmeköy district of Istanbul, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel reacted to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's remarks that the lowest pension was 66 lira when they came to power. Özel claimed that the mentioned figure was not the pension amount of that period, but rather a payment for agricultural BAĞ-KUR. "I am addressing Erdoğan from here, this is a burnout syndrome. The nation is not waiting for a raise from you, but for the ballot box," he said.
This week's address of the rallies organized by the CHP with the slogan "Defending the Will of the Nation" was the Çekmeköy district of Istanbul.
"THIS IS A BURNOUT SYNDROME" Speaking to the crowd gathered in the rally area, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel reacted to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's statements that the lowest pension was 66 lira when they came to power. Özel claimed that the mentioned figure was not the pension amount of the period but rather the agricultural BAĞ-KUR payment, saying, "I am addressing Erdoğan from here; this is a burnout syndrome. It is a lie to the nation, the final turn that the government cannot return from. You have lost your way, you cannot manage, and now you have resorted to lies."
The relevant part of Özel's statements is as follows:
"WHEN ERDOĞAN CAME, THE LOWEST SSK PENSION WAS 257 LIRA" "Do you know what happened today? The President of the country, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, stood at the podium during his party's group meeting in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and shamelessly threw out this lie. He said, 'When we came, Özgür Özel says the lowest pension was 1.5 minimum wages.' He said, 'When we came, the lowest pension was 66 lira, and the minimum wage was 184 lira.' I couldn't believe my ears. And I immediately said, 'He should listen to me well tonight.'
"HE SAYS HE FOUND A TRIVIAL PENSION RECEIVED BY 0.1% OF THE POPULATION, AND THAT WAS THE LOWEST PENSION" Dear people of Çekmeköy, when Erdoğan came, the minimum wage was 184 lira, and the lowest SSK pension was 257 lira. The lowest civil servant was receiving 376 lira. Twice as much. So who was receiving 66 lira? There was something called agricultural BAĞ-KUR. They call it 'peasant BAĞ-KUR' where I come from. A man sold tobacco to the state years ago, went to PANKOBİRLİK years ago, and gave sugar beets. He gave grapes to TARİŞ. He gave cotton to the state. If he could find his voucher, he would bring that voucher. He was borrowing the premium for the time that had passed since then. But since there was no work accident, he had no premium. No disability premium. None of that. From that, a certain amount he could pay and interest-free premiums were taken, and he was made a pensioner. Even if he didn't pay throughout his life, he could pay the money out in one year, but it was very small, and it was a trivial pension received by 10,000 people in Turkey that day, which is 0.1% of the population. He says, 'That was the lowest pension.' If you look at it, Erdoğan has today 4,000 lira, 5,000 lira orphan pensions as well. The lowest pension I am talking about is the one that everyone knows, not the agricultural BAĞ-KUR pension of 4 million 900 thousand people who retired with such 10,000 vouchers, not the agricultural insured, but the lowest pension received by 5 million SGK pensioners, which was 1.5 minimum wages that day, and today is 0.7 minimum wages.
"BRING THE BALLOT BOX. THE NATION IS WAITING FOR THE BALLOT BOX, NOT A RAISE FROM YOU" Here, I declare from Çekmeköy to Turkey; Erdoğan is finished. Erdoğan is exhausted. If the head of the executive of a country, whether Prime Minister or President, tries to save himself by giving false figures while looking into the eyes of the nation from the podium of the parliament, he is already finished. Erdoğan is exhausted. I am addressing Erdoğan from here. This is a burnout syndrome. It is a lie to the nation, the final turn that the government cannot return from. You have lost your way, you cannot manage, and now you have resorted to lies. Let go of the nation. Bring the ballot box. The nation is waiting for the ballot box, not a raise from you."