The Japan Times - 'We can't make ends meet': civil servants protest in Ankara

Some 800 civil servants from the Confederation of Public Employees' Unions (KESK) joined a march to the labour ministry in the Turkish capital, carrying banners demanding an immediate pay rise.

"The increase in rents is almost three times higher than the pay rise we received, meaning our salaries are not even enough to cover the rent increases alone," Ayfer Kocak, KESK's co-chair, told demonstrators outside the ministry.

"We are experiencing growing poverty and insecurity."

Turkey's annual inflation rate fell to 30.89 percent in December from 44.38 percent a year earlier, official figures showed, but independent economists and unions say real numbers remain much higher.

According to December figures released by the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TURK-IS), the absolute minimum needed to feed a family of four was just over 30,000 liras ($690).

At the same time, Turkey's poverty threshold -- the sum required to cover the basic needs for a family of that size -- had risen to 98,000 liras ($2,270), it said.

Food inflation approached 43 percent annually, it added.

- 'We can't make ends meet' -

"The government is condemning civil servants to live in degrading conditions by relying on misleading data" from the official statistics agency TUIK, Tulay Yildirim, head of a local teachers' union branch, told AFP.

"We workers' voices to be heard, saying we can no longer make ends meet and want to receive our fair share of a budget created through taxes paid by all citizens," she added.

Earlier this month, public sector wages were hiked by 18.6 percent for the next six months, an increase unions said was insufficient.

"There are not only workers here, but also pensioners. The salary increase granted falls below the poverty line," said Osman Seheri, head of a local branch of the municipal workers' union.

"We cannot even afford proper clothes to go to work, let alone a suit and tie. With such wages, it is impossible to live in a major city."

According to the independent Inflation Research Group (ENAG), which challenges the official data, annual inflation in Turkey reached 56.14 percent in December 2025, with prices rising 2.11 percent in December alone.

S.Ogawa--JT