The Way Out for the Working Class is Obvious: Let’s Unite Our Forces against Unemployment and Poverty!

The majority of society, the labouring people, are getting poorer day by day. Labour wages are being devalued and the purchasing power is being reduced. If mobile phones had a counter that shows our impoverishment, we would see our wages depreciating every second and the numbers constantly going downwards. Also at some moments, an alarm would ring because of the severity of the depreciation.

Even though we cannot exactly feel that way, this is what we are experiencing right now! The regime’s decision to cut interest rates caused the Turkish currency to crush against the dollar. However, it is crucial to state that whether the interest rates are decreased or increased, in either case, the main aim is to pave the way for the capitalist class. According to the regime and the toady media, reducing the interest rates by one or two points will pump credit into the market, and thus the production will increase!

While the Turkish economy is in the grip of a multi-dimensional crisis, this policy only serves to further exacerbate the problems. At the end, the winner will be the capitalist class, especially the pro-government capitalists that are awarded lucrative, foreign currency guaranteed tenders for public projects such as bridges, tunnels, hospitals and airports! For, the more the dollar gains value, the more money is transferred to these companies from the treasury, whose source is the taxes ripped off from the workers.

While the capitalist class is getting richer and richer as a whole, working sections of the society are suffering an unceasing impoverishment. According to the “Richest 100 survey” conducted by the Economist magazine, some of the capitalist groups favoured by the government climbed 10 and even 16 places in the ranking!

Although the Turkish economy is moving on an inclined surface, the capitalist class is growing at an exponential rate, which can be explained by the following factors: the cheapening of labour costs, the extension of working hours and the worsening working conditions! Workers already deeply feel how the purchasing power of wages has melted away in their daily lives. However, the ruling class continues to say that everything is going well.

Moreover, the loss in the minimum wage is actually much higher. For, there have been extreme price increases in basic necessities, especially rent and food. The AKP-MHP government finally fulfilled the ideal it longed for. Finally, they reduced the minimum wage in Turkey to a level lower than in China. What this means is more pleasure and enrichment for the capitalist class; but grief, loss and impoverishment for the working class!

Following the global crisis of 2008, developed capitalist countries such as the US pumped trillions of dollars into the market to stop the economic collapse. In these countries, interest rates fell and some of the hot money flowed to Turkey. In that period, Turkish banks and companies borrowed from abroad at low interest rates. Thus, they provided financial resources for construction and similar investments and also distributed loans to consumers.

By using credit, some workers were able to buy houses and cars. Also, their consumption patterns partially expanded. However, this was made possible not by the struggle of the workers or wage increases, but by becoming indebted. Moreover, real wages fell and workers had to work harder to pay off their debts. It is no coincidence that workers competed with each other to work overtime during this period.

After 2013, capital flow slowed down and the era of cheap borrowing ended.  At that time, the total external debt of Turkey reached 450 billion dollars. As the debt turned into an increasingly heavy burden and the economy became more and more fragile, the crisis finally broke out in 2018 as a result of the pressure of the foreign policy of the government. But, as we emphasized above, while the poverty of the workers increases and the debt burden becomes heavier, the wealth of capital keeps expanding.

According to June 2021 data, the number of people who have used consumer credit has approached 35 million. The total credit amount is 875 billion liras! In Istanbul alone, there are over 13 million people who have used consumer credit. In other words, 80 per cent of Istanbul is in debt. Moreover, contrary to common belief, most of these credits are in the form of consumer loan, not housing loan. Rents and bills have soared, and due to inflation, it has become more costly to meet the basic needs.

With the unemployment, impoverishment and debt becoming more and more widespread, the anger is growing among workers, undermining the voter support of the government.  Discontent and anger are expressing themselves especially through young people. The one-man regime is getting weaker. It has neither the energy and the ability, nor the economic power to solve the expanding social problems. Therefore, the regime has once again brought the operation to Syria to the agenda. It intends to cover up the worsening social problems by increasing international tension and whipping up nationalism in Turkey.

However, the problems have reached to such an extent that there is no way for the government to divert the attention from them. The arrogance and blindness of the regime are becoming more and more obvious in the eyes of the masses. We must remember that living in the same country with them does not mean we are in the same class!

The society in Turkey is undergoing a radical and multidimensional transformation. More than 90 per cent of Turkey’s population live in cities. Women are becoming prominent in all areas of life. A significant part of the 10 million unemployed are university graduates. Poverty is becoming more and more widespread, whereas needs of the current age increasingly expand and diversify.  In such circumstances, millions of young people worry about their future and want to go abroad. For the first time, the society in Turkey is experiencing all these situations at the same time. For sure, this situation will have important outcomes in the coming period.

We should not forget that the working class, which was pushed into disorganization by the military coup of 12 September 1980, has not yet recovered from this blow. Social problems can only be solved in favour of the workers when the unions are strong and combative, the workers come together in their unions and other workers’ organisations, the working women take more responsibility and the young people leave behind passivity. In a disorganized society, people always wait for a saviour to come and save them. But a saviour will not come! Let’s come together in our trade unions, workers organizations and UID-DER. And let’s strengthen our unity and solidarity. Let’s take our destiny into our own hands!