Minimum Wage Showdown: CHP Leader Özgür Özel Slams Government for Failing to Hit 30,000 Lira Mark

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Turkey’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel said on November 3 that the net minimum wage should be raised to at least 30,000 liras ($873) in the new year.

Speaking during a press conference in Istanbul, Özel said, “Inflation seems to be around 50 percent, with a base effect of 40 percent. But they intend to give a rise of 20 per cent according to the targeted inflation. “

There is speculation that the government will increase the minimum wage based on the “expected rate of inflation” rather than the actual one as part of the economic program aimed at reducing inflation.

The most recent increase was made in January 2024 as the government increased the minimum wage by 49 percent to 17,002 Turkish liras ($495).

“If they increase the minimum wage according to inflation, it will be 25,000 liras. If they apply the perceived inflation, it should be 35,000 liras. We say, ‘It should be at least 30,000 liras. (The government) is aiming for a minimum wage of 20-22,000 liras. There will be a big fight for this,” Özel said.

The government and trade unions will begin their negotiations in December for the 2025 minimum wage.

The Turkish government increased the minimum wage twice in 2022 and 2023 in July amid rising inflation and the cost of living crisis as well as investment for the 2023 elections. The government refrained from doing so in 2024.

Despite the AKP’s loss in the 2024 local elections for the first time in its 23-year history, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated the continuation of a tight monetary policy that is mainly burdened by the lower classes and middle

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