The attention of Turkey’s 13.5 million retirees is focused on the salary adjustment scheduled for July. As known, retirement pensions are adjusted twice a year, every six months. The rate of increase is determined based on official inflation figures published by TÜİK, using the six-month inflation data.
Retirees who received their first raise in January are now awaiting the July increase amid rising inflation. The likely July raise has largely become clear, but retirees are demanding a larger adjustment. Details follow.
TÜED President Announces Retirees’ Demands
Kazım Ergün, President of the Turkish Retirees Association (TÜED), commented on pension levels and planned measures, focusing on the minimum pension. It was previously decided that the minimum pension would be 2,500 TL and that any shortfall after the raise would be covered by the Treasury. Ergün voiced retirees’ demands that the minimum monthly pension be raised to the level of the minimum wage.
Ergün said that civil servants and civil service retirees welcomed the 600-point increase applied to their additional indicator, a change that will increase monthly pensions by approximately 1,350 TL and lump-sum retirement payments by an average of 40–50 thousand TL. He argued that similar increases should be applied to the lower portions of SSK and Bağ-Kur pensions and called for an adjustment (intibak) for those who retired after 2000.
“Retirees Should Receive a Share of National Income Growth”
Ergün pointed out that the gap between civil servant retirees and SSK/BAĞ-KUR retirees widens each year. While civil servant retirees benefit from collective bargaining increases as well as additional raises and indicator changes, SSK and BAĞ-KUR pensions only rise by the inflation rate.
He said an intibak is necessary to equalize pensions. Because percentage-based increases disadvantage those with lower pensions, Ergün argued for flat-rate increases and for retirees to receive a fair share of national income growth.
1.5 Million Retirees Live on 2,500 TL
With the January adjustment, the minimum pension was raised to 2,500 TL. Meanwhile, the minimum wage was increased by 50% in December 2021 to 4,253 TL. As a result, about 1.5 million retirees have pensions below the minimum wage.
Retirees, who are increasingly affected by inflation, demand that the minimum pension be raised to the level of the minimum wage. Ergün emphasized that 1.5 million retirees are trying to live on 2,500 TL monthly and that this group represents the lowest-income segment of society.
“The Minimum Pension Must Be Raised”
As inflation rises, even minimum-wage workers face difficulty making ends meet. Ergün compared the situations and said that living on 2,500 TL is not feasible given current conditions. He noted that the minimum wage, which was 184.25 TL in December 2002, increased 23-fold to 4,253 TL by January 2022.
During the same period, the lowest pension rose only tenfold. Today, the incomes of 1.5 million retirees are 1,753 TL below the minimum wage. Ergün urged that the minimum pension be promptly raised to the level of the minimum wage. The salary adjustment planned for July is therefore eagerly awaited.