CHP pushes for minimum wage increase in talks with finance chief Simsek

Following a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and CHP Chairman Ozgur Ozel, discussions between the government and the main opposition continue.

On Monday, Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Simsek hosted Yalcin Karatepe, CHP’s deputy chairman responsible for the Treasury and Finance Ministry, at the ministry.

Key highlights

The meeting began at 10 a.m. and lasted approximately four hours and 15 minutes. Afterward, Karatepe went to CHP headquarters to make statements.

During the meeting, he presented four main demands to Simsek: an interim increase in the minimum wage, a significant rise in pensions, an increase in agricultural subsidies to be paid to farmers as stipulated by the Agriculture Law and addressing tax inequalities.

Karatepe emphasized their refusal to delay increasing the minimum wage during high inflation, saying, “We told the minister that this increase is necessary.”

Additionally, he stressed the need for pension increases, suggesting that while legally required adjustments reflect inflation, they also advocated for additional increases, which could be termed a “welfare share,” corresponding to economic growth observed, for instance, in the first quarter.

Notably, discussions on public sector savings measures did not come up during the meeting.

Length of meeting

This meeting between Simsek and Karatepe, lasting approximately four hours and 15 minutes, is the longest engagement between CHP and the cabinet to date.

Previously, CHP officials had also met with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, and Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change Minister Mehmet Ozhaseki.