MHP asks further rise in pensions

ANKARA

Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has said that the 25 percent increase in pensions has not been seen as satisfying and called on the government to make a further rise.

Recalling that the public servants have received a good amount of increase in their salaries, Bahçeli said, “That being the case, the 25 percent increase in the pensions of 15.9 million people has not been seen as acceptable and sufficient,” at his parliamentary group meeting on July 11.

The government has made a 34 percent increase in the minimum wage and raised the minimum salary for the public servants to 22,000 Turkish Liras in the first week of July. The increase in the pension, however, was limited to 25 percent.

“One would wish that these rises would be higher, but the budgetary conditions are limited. The difficulties in saving the Turkish economy from a turbulence are very obvious,” he said. Bahçeli, however, said the rise should be just and the pensions should also have a better salary.

“With the decrease of the inflation, the purchase power of the retired, workers, public servants and workers receiving minimum wage will be relatively protected,” he said, expressing support for the government policies.

On Türkiye’s giving a greenlight to Sweden’s bid to join NATO following lengthy negotiations, Bahçeli said Sweden is no different from Kandil Mountain in northern Iraq which is being used as the headquarters of the PKK. “If Sweden makes a 180-degree U-turn from its malign politics and proves that it has been tamed, then we have nothing to say. The decision belongs to the president,” he suggested.