21.01.2026 12:50
President Erdoğan, who made statements regarding pensions that MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli described as "poverty wages," said, "We are aware of the problems of our retirees. We have never turned a deaf ear to their demands and complaints."
In his statements regarding the agenda items at the parliamentary group meeting of his party, President Erdoğan made a striking remark about the lowest pension salaries, which his coalition partner MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli described as "poverty wages."
"TODAY THE LOWEST PENSION SALARY..."
Expressing that the discussions on the bill to raise the lowest pension salary to 20,000 lira have begun in the General Assembly, Erdoğan said, "With your close follow-up, I believe that our proposal will be enacted as soon as possible. With the enactment of the proposal, the lowest pension salary, which was 16,881 lira last month, will rise to 20,000 lira with an increase of 3,319 lira. Do you know what this figure was when we came to power? It was only 66 lira. In dollar terms, it corresponded to only 40 dollars. After the new regulation, the lowest pension salary will have risen to 480 dollars. Again, in November 2002, the minimum wage was 184 lira; that is, a citizen receiving the lowest pension salary could only receive one-third of the minimum wage. Today, the lowest pension salary has exceeded 70% of the minimum wage," he said.
"WE ARE AWARE OF THE STRUGGLES THEY FACE"
Continuing his remarks, Erdoğan emphasized that they are aware of the struggles faced by retirees, stating, "Look, although our number of retirees, which was 6.5 million in November 2002, has increased to 17 million with an increase of nearly three times, we took these steps and reached these figures. While saying this, we are certainly not claiming that we have solved all problems or met all demands. We are fully aware of all the difficulties our retirees face, especially regarding rents and the cost of living. Indeed, we are trying to address these issues by increasing housing supply through our projects, such as the initiative for 500,000 social housing units, which is currently being drawn. I sincerely wish for all our retirees to know this: Our retirees, who have spent a significant part of their lives serving their country, are our crown. They are more than worthy of all kinds of service and respect. We have never turned a deaf ear to the demands, expectations, and complaints of our retirees; on the contrary, one of our ears has always been with our retirees. As our budget opportunities have expanded, we have tried to meet their demands, and as Turkey has developed, we have ensured that our retirees also benefit from this. Inshallah, we will continue to act with the same sensitivity; as our earthquake expenditures decrease, we will have more resources at our disposal," he said.
BAHÇELİ HAD SAID "POVERTY WAGES"
Bahçeli had said the following at his party's group meeting: "While they are sad, we cannot be at ease; we must raise them to at least a level where they can live humanely, not poverty wages."