Electricity of Kılıçdaroğlu’s house cut off after price hike protest
ANKARA
Main opposition Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who protested against hikes in electricity prices saying he would not pay his electricity bills until those hikes were rolled back, has announced that his home’s electricity has been cut off.
“I just got news from my wife. They have cut off our electricity today. As you all know, our nation is going through very difficult times,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in a video he posted on his social media account on April 21.
The government’s energy price hikes have exceeded 400 percent over the past three years, Kılıçdaroğlu said and repeated his call to withdraw these increases.
“However, energy is fundamental. It’s a human right. It’s like bread, it’s like air, it’s like water, it’s your right my people,” he said.
The CHP leader said that it’s not that he could not pay the bill but that he wanted to be in “the fight” for helping the nation, adding: “I didn’t pay. I wanted to be the voice of those who can’t pay.”
He noted, the electricity of 3,449,344 subscribers was cut off in 2021.
Kılıçdaroğlu announced on Feb. 9 that he would not pay his electricity bills as a protest until the government withdraws the recent price hike. He made a call to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan regarding the increase in electricity consumption bills and asked him to reduce the VAT amount taken from electricity bills down to 1 percent.
In response, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Group deputy chair Bülent Turan accused Kılıçdaroğlu of provocation.
Turkey has raised electricity prices by 50-100 percent for households and companies since the start of 2022, the move has drawn reaction from the nation’s households.
