At a time when the Turkish lira is falling and strong inflation is melting the savings of the Turks, many people in Istanbul are queuing up for cheap bread, trying to save some money from their budgets, Reuters reports.
In the Sultangazi district, where they traditionally support President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, several people are waiting to buy bread at a municipal booth, saying that price increases are their choice.
“People are now in a situation where every pound has to be counted,” said Ozkan Ketuda, 50, who buys bread for his family. He blames the government.
For the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, who is considered a possible opponent of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the queues indicate not only an economic crisis, but also a failure of the government, indicating the need for political change.
His municipality sells bread for £ 1.25, nearly half the price of regular grocery stores. The amount of bread produced has almost doubled to 1.5 million loaves a day to meet demand. However, he said, the queues show that this is not enough.
“This shows poverty very clearly. People do not like to stand in line for bread, ”said the mayor of Istanbul.
In November alone, the Turkish lira lost 30 percent of its value, and official annual inflation jumped to 21.3 percent after the central bank cut interest rates from 19 percent to 15 percent in September due to pressure from Erdogan.
According to the municipality, the cost of living increased by 50 percent per year, while rents increased by 71 percent and the cost of many basic household items rose by 75-138 percent.