Kılıçdaroğlu vows to increase lowest civil servant salary to 2.5 times minimum wage if elected

In a new video, presidential candidate and CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu has vowed that the lowest civil servant salary will be 2.5 times the minimum wage should he assume power in the May 14 election. He noted the lowest civil servant salary is currently 1.4 times the minimum wage.

Friday May 05 2023 12:20 pm

Duvar English

The main opposition bloc Nation Alliance’s presidential candidate and Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on May 4 promised to increase the civil servant salaries should he win the presidential election.

Kamu. Memurlar. pic.twitter.com/UhmG7Bfm7u
— Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (@kilicdarogluk) May 4, 2023

In a new video he posted on his social media accounts, Kılıçdaroğlu said the lowest civil servant salary will be 2.5 times the minimum wage.

“Civil servants are devastated. In 2012, the lowest civil servant salary was 2.5 times the minimum wage. Currently, this rate has decreased to 1.4. As soon as I assume power, I will increase the lowest civil servant salary to 2.5 times the minimum wage. The lowest civil servant salary will be 21,265 liras,” the 74-year-old leader said.

A minimum wage worker currently earns 8,506 liras ($435).

Kılıçdaroğlu also said “Mr. Kemal spent 27.5 years of his life working for the state. If anyone can bring spring to the civil servants, believe me, it's Mr. Kemal. Salary is not the only problem for them. For example, the working hours of the police are 12-13 hours a day and 240-250 hours a month. This is one of the reasons behind police suicides.”

“Our 1.2 million teachers are our precious ones to whom we entrust our children, the guarantee of our future. They are trying to do their duty in many impossibilities, from crowded classrooms to hygiene problems and material shortages in schools. We will appoint 100,000 teachers,” he added.

Some polls suggest that Erdoğan might lose office against his rival Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in the May 14 election while citizens have been struggling to make ends meet due to non-stoppable inflation and deteriorating economic crisis.

Although the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) announced an annual inflation rate of 43.68% in April, ENAG Inflation Research Group, an independent institution set up in 2020 to track the country’s inflation, reported the inflation rate as 105.19%.

Experts have warned the country's middle class is being crushed and destroyed due to “wrong monetary policies” and soaring inflation.