Turkey's main opposition party leader refuses to pay electricity bills
February 10, 2022, 7:28 am

Turkey's main opposition party leader refuses to pay electricity bills

Fire tower in Istanbul, Turkey/Pixabay

The US News reported, citing Reuters, Turkey's main opposition party leader said late on Wednesday he will not pay his electricity bills until President Tayyip Erdogan withdraws recent price increases, as signs of discontent over surging inflation emerged across the country.

In January, inflation jumped to nearly 50% after a currency crash late last year triggered by Erdogan's unorthodox low interest rate policy, raising the cost of living for Turks already struggling to make ends meet.

In response, the government has raised the minimum wage by 50% but also increased the prices of gas, power, petrol and road tolls to account for import price volatility.

Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said overnight: "I will not pay any of my electricity bills from today until Erdogan withdraws the price hikes which he signed on December 31."

In a video released on his Twitter account, Kilicdaroglu also called for a reduction in the value-added tax imposed on power bills to 1% from 18%.

Electricity prices were raised by as much as 125% for high-demand commercial users and by around 50% for lower-demand households at the beginning of January.

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Kilicdaroglu's announcement came after shopkeepers, city councils and a religious community group spoke out this week about the rising energy bills.

Some restaurant owners posted notices on windows highlighting ballooning electricity bills, social media posts showed, while Turkey's Alevi religious minority decided not to pay power bills for their places of worship, known as cemevis.

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The record currency depreciation and soaring prices have hit Erdogan's opinion poll ratings ahead of elections set for no later than June 2023. The government says credit, exports and investment will help the country weather inflation.

Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said this week a new measure on power bills would be announced "very soon".

Source: usnews

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.