Citizens are suffering from poverty in Turkey because of the rise in the cost of food products as a result of the economic crisis in the country. Due both to the increases in the cost of electricity and natural gas, and the astronomical increases in the cost of basic consumer goods such as oil, flour and bread, a family living on the minimum wage struggles even when buying basic needs.
Jin news interviewed women on the streets of Diyarbakir (Amed) a province in the southeast of Turkey, The answers are a good illustration of the situation in the country.
“I’m a pensioner, I’ve just got a bill, I’ve read it, and I feel terrible. The bills in previous months already came to over a thousand lira,” says a middle-aged woman in a busy street in Diyarbakir.
“I mean, it’s enough. We’re sick of it now. They need to find a solution. I’m a tenant, I pay 240 lira a month in fees, they have increased my rent from 1,500 to 2,000 lira. They ask me to leave the house. Where can I go? I need 15,000 lira in my pocket to move to a new place, to pay a deposit and removal costs,” she adds.
Students are among those who are suffering the most in the country. Statements from a young woman who cannot find a part-time work for herself illustrate this.
“I’m having such a hard time, as I’m not working, so I can’t buy anything, I can’t take a single step just now. You need money for everything. As a student I’m really having a hard time, students are struggling the most”