Turkey has descended into chaos with soaring prices, 20% inflation and protests against the flailing economy. According to reports, Turkey’s currency, Lira, has plunged to historic lows and the 20% inflation has pushed the prices up significantly, devaluing the local currency salaries. While protests rage in parts of Turkey, the Turkish government has urged its citizens to go vegetarian. The Turkish government has decided to switch to vegetarianism and raise awareness against food waste to face the collapse of the Turkish lira and uncontrollable food prices hikes, according to a report in euractiv.com.
“Instead of eating 1-2 kilos of meat monthly, let’s eat half a kilo. We buy 2 kilos of tomatoes and half of them go to the trash. Well, let’s get 2 tomatoes,” said Turkish lawmaker Zülfü Demirbağ who belongs to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s AKP party. He made this statement in light of the total collapse of the Turkish lira and the looming economic crisis, according to reports.
The Turkish government has employed brutal measures to contain the protests that have broken in various parts of Turkey against the economic policies of Erdogan. On Wednesday, it is reported that riot police broke up a protest that was raging on the streets of the capital city.
The protesters, mostly members of left-wing groups, were starting to gather in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district, located on the Asian side of the city, when police intervened.
Demonstrators were chanting slogans calling for Erdoğan’s government to resign.
The police had put up barricades and ended up dragging the protestors away. According to reports, 30 people were detained in the Wednesday protest alone. According to another report, hundreds of social media accounts have been targeted in Turkey for “inciting people to hatred and calling on citizens in the streets to use violence [against price hikes].”
Experts have attributed the slide in the Turkish economy to the insane policies of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Erdogan has described the Interest rate to be the “enemy” and has refused to increase the rate to cool off inflation. The central bank of Turkey also has no autonomy to rectify the slide in the Economy and they are to follow the policies set by the President. Erdogan has fired three central bank chiefs in roughly two years because they refused to reduce the interest rate in accordance with the whims of Erdogan.
Semih Tumen, a former central bank deputy governor who Erdogan dismissed in October, sharply criticized the president’s moves.
Başarı şansı olmayan bu irrasyonel deneyi bir an önce terkedip Türk lirasının değerini koruyacak, Türk halkının refahını gözetecek kaliteli politikalara bir an önce dönmemiz gerekiyor.
— Semih Tümen (@SemihTumen) November 23, 2021
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“We need to abandon this irrational experiment, which has no chance of success, and return to quality policies that will protect the value of the Turkish lira and protect the welfare of the Turkish people,” Tumen wrote on Twitter, according to a translation.
