TURKEY: Airtime & more – 26th Mar 2024

Merhaba from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Turkey Update from the 26th of March twenty twenty-four A quick summary of what's going down in Turkey.

We previously covered the opposition, the Republican People's Party, or CHP’s complaint about unequal airtime on the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, or TRT, a state-run channel. Now, the party's deputy chairman revisited the issue, accusing TRT of blatant bias. He stressed that TRT heavily favors President Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, allocating one-fourth of its airtime to them. In contrast, Özgür Özel, the CHP leader, received only sixty-seven seconds of coverage in two broadcasts. He criticized TRT for prioritizing AKP figures and sidelining opposition candidates. He questioned TRT's impartiality, suggesting its complicity in propaganda. The deputy also pointed out that the TRT gets its funding from taxes paid by all eighty-five million citizens and emphasized the need for a platform that represents diverse views without bias.

Local elections are just around the corner and, this week, the Sözcü news outlet reported that Murat Kurum, Istanbul's AKP mayoral candidate, vowed to build 650 thousand homes against earthquakes. However, based on the slow construction pace of public institutions in the last five years, fulfilling this pledge would take around 160 years.

Kurum himself criticized the slow pace but blamed the opposition-led municipalities for it, as municipal institutions like the Istanbul Housing Development and Investment, or KİPTAŞ, are the ones overseeing the construction. However, others pointed out that the Housing Development Administration of Turkey, or TOKİ, under Kurum's previous tenure, delivered around eight thousand homes in five years. KİPTAŞ, meanwhile, provided over ten thousand homes, with plans for a thousand more before elections. Combined, they'll have built just 20,000 homes in five years. At this rate, Kurum's promise would require fifty-eight thousand days or 160 years to fulfill.

Speaking of municipalities, The BirGün news outlet reported that the AKP-led Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality is distributing blankets that the Iraqi Turkmen Nationalist Movement sent to Turkey after last year’s massive earthquake as part of its own election campaign. The AKP reportedly stored the blankets for about thirteen months, despite two harsh winters already passing. Citizens criticized the municipality, questioning why blankets weren't distributed earlier. They expressed frustration, stating they endured cold winters without aid and are now receiving it as the season ends. They also questioned the municipality’s motive, as they likely held onto the blankets so they could distribute them before the elections to get votes.

Let’s move on to the economy… On Thursday the 21st, in an unexpected move, the Central Bank increased the policy interest rate. It is now at fifty percent and has surpassed the forty-seven percent threshold President Erdoğan criticized in twenty thirteen. Back then, Erdoğan slammed previous governments for high rates, citing forty-seven percent as a reference. Recently, Erdoğan has been following an unorthodox economic policy, trying to combat high inflation with low-interest rates. This flopped, of course, and the economic administration elected after the twenty twenty-three general elections shifted away from Erdoğan's strategy, raising the then 8% interest rate to over 40%. The bank said last month that the economy was becoming stable and there wouldn’t be any need to raise the interest rate. Turns out, it wasn’t stable enough.

More on the economy… In March, Turkey's hunger threshold climbed by over a thousand Turkish liras, around thirty US Dollars, compared to the previous month, surpassing the twenty thousand lira, or 625 US Dollar mark, for the first time. This threshold represents the monthly food expenses of a family of four in Ankara to maintain a healthy diet.

The government set the minimum wage for twenty twenty-four at seventeen thousand liras or 530 US Dollars, not covering the hunger threshold.

Additionally, this month, the poverty threshold, indicating the total expenses for food and other necessities for a family of four to live comfortably, rose by almost five thousand liras reaching fifty-seven thousand, almost 1,800 US Dollars.

In unrelated news…this week Karabük University went viral for all the wrong reasons. Some anonymous students shared on social media that after having intimacy with African students, they’ve contracted Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV, a disease that weakens the immune system, and the Human Papillomavirus, or HPV, which leads to genital warts and even cancer.

After these posts went viral, people started saying that HIV and HPV cases have soared recently and tied it to the high number of African students who allegedly bring these diseases from their home countries. This, of course, sparked a sea of racist comments towards Africans. Social media also ridiculed Turkish students at the university, labeling them as horny. However, the university clarified that there's been no rise in HPV and HIV cases reported at Karabük hospitals. The university emphasized Karabük's overall safety and announced that they’ve launched legal actions against those spreading false information.

In some updates on the twin earthquakes that devastated southern Turkey… A court sentenced four defendants to seventeen years and six months in prison for their involvement in the Galeria Complex collapse in Diyarbakır that resulted in almost ninety deaths. The defendants, including three contractors and one construction engineer, were found guilty of causing multiple deaths due to gross negligence.

Next up, The Istanbul branch of the Environmental Engineers Chamber warned about the environmental dangers of oil exploration in the Marmara Sea. This came after the Turkish Petroleum Corporation got permission from the Energy and Natural Ministry to search for petroleum in the Sea. The chamber said the Marmara Sea was already having problems with de-oxygenation, the reduction of oxygen levels in the water due to pollution. They added that president Erdoğan declared the Marmara Sea a special environmental protection zone in twenty twenty-one because of its important role as a biological corridor. The chamber highlighted the ongoing plankton bloom and mucilage issues in the region and warned that oil exploration would cause further harm to the ecosystem. The chamber also said that an oil leak could end life in the sea.

A recent social media post by a parent in Sakarya province has brought attention to a concerning practice at an Islamic foundation-affiliated kindergarten. According to the post, young students had to fast until midday as part of a Ramadan activity. Ramadan, a significant month in Islam, involves fasting from sunrise to sunset, a practice mainly observed by adults due to its difficulty, especially for kids. Even though the parent approved of the activity, it sparked criticism on social media, highlighting concerns about the intrusion of religion into schools and emphasizing the need for secular education models.

There’s a new regulation on the horizon! Effective from the beginning of twenty twenty-five, there will be a regulation concerning the design and construction of wooden buildings. This comprehensive measure addresses utilizing structural wooden elements and diverse building systems, outlining essential rules and conditions for safe construction practices. It mandates that materials used in wooden buildings comply with established Building Materials Regulations. Coinciding with the rising popularity of tiny and mobile houses, many individuals are considering purchasing land for such structures. However, as these tiny houses are largely unregulated, some companies compromise on quality to reduce costs. With the introduction of this regulation, hopefully, safety and quality standards will improve, offering reassurance to those embracing this housing trend.

And to close this edition with some good news… Last week, the wedding story of a couple went viral on social media. A year ago in Gaziantep, a young couple wanted to get married but their families disapproved of the marriage. Traditionally, both families have to approve a marriage, even though it’s not mandatory. When they couldn’t reach a common ground with their families, they turned to the Presidential Communication Center or CİMER for help. The local authorities and Mayor Fatma Şahin intervened and got the families’ approval. Reportedly, they also furnished their house. Now, the couple has been married for over a year. The husband shared their journey, expressing gratitude for the state's support. The whole thing was called into question, as it might have been a political attention grabber to make the ruling party look good. Regardless, people seem happy to see some good news in the media every once in a while.

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