Erdoğan offers onions and potatoes but no financial support to the needy in lockdown

On April 13, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that the government would distribute 1,200,000 tons of potatoes and 300,000 tons of onions to the needy.  

Four days later, he ordered the country in full lockdown, but provided no plan to support the businesses and workers whose incomes would be lost.

Turkey will shutter most businesses, prohibit travel and place people under round-the-clock curfew except essential journeys from April 29 until May 17.

The need to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases is great after the daily increase in coronavirus cases peaked above 62,000 and daily deaths topped 360.

Erdoğan, however, did not propose any state support for those suffering from the lockdown. He claimed that Turkey could not “afford” such support. As the Turkish government continues to pursue military adventures in Libya and Syria at great cost, such assertions fall hard on those who are struggling to buy food.

Inflation is currently at the official rate of 16.19 percent in Turkey, but the Independent Inflation Research Group (ENAG) calculates it to be 32 percent. Millions cannot afford to buy food, or necessities or pay utility bills – about 12.2 percent lived below the poverty line in 2020 according to a World Bank report.

Gözde Aslan, a newspaper seller in Istanbul, told Arab News the lockdown would be difficult to weather.

“We have to bring food to our homes, and we live in a period where everything is very expensive,” she said. “May God help us.”

A report by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairperson Gamze Akkuş İlgezdi showed that the number of children living in poverty in Turkey exceeded 7.4 million,  corresponding to over 30 percent of children in the country.

Opposition lawmakers blasted the government Tuesday. The leader of the main opposition party, Kemal Kilicdaroğlu, called on Erdoğan to propose a social aid package that would help closed businesses and day labourers in Turkey’s informal economies. He also said urged the suspension of debt enforcement proceedings for some time.