Behind the scenes: Here are the details of the Erdogan-Ozel meeting

President and Chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Ozgur Ozel held a significant private meeting at CHP General Headquarters that lasted approximately 1.5 hours.

This meeting, which included high-level representatives from both parties, focused on economic measures to address Türkiye’s current challenges.

Following the meeting, Cumhuriyet Daily reported that Ozel proposed economic solutions and suggestions for sourcing funds to Erdogan. According to CHP officials, Erdogan instructed Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek to discuss these proposals with CHP’s economic advisors after the festive holiday.

On the other hand, Ozel also elaborated on the meeting, stressing the urgency of economic reforms.

He emphasized the importance of an inclusive approach in Parliament, ensuring that all parties and representatives of citizens are involved in creating a fair tax system and addressing socio-economic issues like pensions, wages and agricultural prices.

“During our meeting yesterday (June 12), I stressed to (Mr. Erdogan) the necessity of immediately raising pension payments to match the minimum wage, and that an inflation adjustment should be made to the minimum wage by the end of this month,” Ozel said, adding that he suggested increasing the announced tea price from 17 liras to 25 liras.