Erdoğan seeks to increase his own salary by 30 percent amid mass poverty in Turkey

The budget proposal in parliament for 2025 foresees a 30 percent increase in the president's salary, which equates to the sum of three minimum wages. The proposal offers the president a monthly wage of 238,000 Turkish Liras ($6974).

Saturday October 19 2024 05:16 pm

Duvar English

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan seeks to increase his own salary by 30 percent, according to the 2025 budget proposal currently in parliament, ANKA News Agency reported.

The proposed increase in the president's salary equates to 3.2 minimum wages, which is 17,002 liras, and will bring up his monthly income to 238,000 liras ($6974) from 183,000 liras.

The budget proposal sought to allocate 2.9 million liras for the “Presidential Allowance,” which includes the President's salary.

This allowance is foreseen at 3.1 million liras for 2026, and 3.5 million liras for 2027.

The proposal also aimed to allocate 16.93 billion liras ($495 million) to the presidency, marking a 38 percent increase from last year.

The state-run Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) reported annual inflation at 49.38 percent for September, whereas independent inflation research group ENAG put the figure at 88.63 percent.

Millions of Turkish citizens cannot make ends meet due to the unabated cost of living crisis. With the implementation of more orthodox policies under Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, the burden of the crisis on citizens has increased.