E-Haberler 
ECONOMIC DISCUSSIONS CONTINUE
Yalçın Karatepe, who manages the economic policies of the CHP, met with Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek. After a meeting that lasted about four hours, Karatepe made statements regarding the results of the meeting. Yalçın Karatepe stated that they presented their demands to Şimşek in four main topics, but they could not reach an agreement with the government on these issues. Following this meeting where mutual understanding could not be achieved, Karatepe summarized the situation by stating, “We requested a raise in minimum wage and pension payments, but we did not see a willingness to change economic policies. The government seems inclined to once again pass the bill on to the citizens.”
INEVITABLE RAISE IN MINIMUM WAGE
Yalçın Karatepe emphasized the impact of high inflation rates, stating that it is essential to raise the minimum wage. Karatepe, stating “It is unacceptable not to raise the minimum wage in the second half of the year. Increasing the purchasing power of the citizens in an inflationary environment is necessary,” also mentioned that pension payments should be updated in the same way. He also added that the $89.6 billion support that should have been given to farmers since 2006 was not provided, resulting in large amounts of money being spent on agricultural imports. Karatepe stated that they presented these data to Minister Şimşek and emphasized the need to increase agricultural supports.
DEMAND FOR TAX JUSTICE
One of the important agenda items of the meeting was the tax system. Karatepe stated that the current tax policy is unfair and said that they made various regulation proposals to Minister Şimşek on this issue. Karatepe, who said “Some new regulations should be made to ensure tax justice,” also addressed the controversial TÜİK data. He proposed the establishment of an independent advisory or arbitration board to increase the reliability of TÜİK data. He stated that this board would consist of academics and subject matter experts and explained that in this way, the data could be transparently reviewed and the public’s doubts could be dispelled.
REACTION TO FOREIGN TRAVEL FEE
The claims that the foreign travel fee would be 3000 lira, which have been frequently discussed in the media recently, were another agenda item of the meeting. Karatepe stated that they also discussed this issue with Minister Şimşek. “We conveyed that the foreign travel fee should not be such a high amount. However, we did not receive a concrete response on this issue. We believe that work on the bill is still ongoing,” he said. He pointed out that economic obligations that restrict the travel freedom of Turkish citizens need to be reevaluated. After the meeting, it became clear that there are still differences of opinion between the CHP and the government on economic policies.
