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Istanbul. Elsewhere, people talk about the weather or their neighbors. In Turkey, everyone is talking about onions right now. "Last year, a kilo cost about three pounds," or about 50 cents, said an Istanbul grocer. "This year he was sometimes ten lire." Onions are essential to Turkish cooking, even the poorest Turk needs it daily for the family table. This is why many consumers are angry with the government. Now, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that the onion is a top priority because he fears a memo in the March municipal elections.
A lack of harvest, high losses due to poor storage, and many intermediaries from farmers to consumers – there are many reasons why onions have become so expensive, experts say. In addition, there is an annual inflation of 25%, the highest level in 15 years. The government can do nothing to change the climate, but this can lead to an economic and financial policy that has reduced the value of the lira this year by 40% against the US dollar and is partly responsible for the high inflation . Millions of Turks, forced to settle for the minimum wage of 270 euros net, do not know where to take the money anymore.
Erdoğan sees the blame for the misdirection of complicit conspirators, similar to the collapse of the course of the read in the summer. The president challenged wholesalers who store onions to raise prices. The searches of efficient warehouses for the public are intended to rebadure voters. A pure show, say critics like the journalist Mirgün Cabas. He estimated on Twitter that even the seizure of 100 tons of onions in warehouses, considering an annual output of two million tons, could hardly solve the problem. Ali Ekber Yildirim, an agri-food expert, is worried that onions will soon become more expensive because of the raids.
Erdoğan is on the problem of onion as his government in the fight against inflation as a whole: Ankara virtually wants to banish the problems. Presidential son-in-law and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak has condemned reputable Turkish companies for their price cuts aimed at curbing currency devaluation.
Dissatisfaction before the local elections
Voter frustration at inflation could pose some problems for Erdoğan's AKP party in the four-month local elections. According to polls, three out of four voters see the country in crisis, while Erdoğan talks about attacks on an otherwise healthy economy. More and more information is reporting business bankruptcies, bills are no longer paid and the confidence of entrepreneurs and consumers is low. Erdoğan's response is not structural reforms, as advocated by experts, but state stimulus programs. With a new "mobilization for employment and investment", he wants to stimulate the economy – how he wants to pay, he has not revealed. Some critics suspect the government of presenting the bill to the Turks only after the March 31st municipal elections.
In view of the election, Erdoğan supports, as always, a strategy of polarization: he wants to motivate his supporters by demonizing the dissidents. The CHP opposition party voters are people who "eat only the badped cream cake," the president said Tuesday. The PCH politician, Muharrem Ince, replied that it was a strange statement for a man residing in a thousand-room palace and flying in the vicinity aboard a 500-million-dollar airliner.
("Die Presse", print edition, 28.11.2018)
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