Turkey raises public worker salaries by 45% days before elections

President Erdogan makes announcement as he seeks re-election and economic unrest hurts his chances.

The The Turkish government is increasing the salaries of its employees by 45 percent. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this five days before the Turks vote presidential and parliamentary elections.

Polls show Erdogan is in a tight race with the main opposition presidential candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Erdogan announced the wage increase on Tuesday at a meeting in Ankara, where the economic and social rights of public workers were discussed through a framework called the Public Collective Bargaining Agreement Framework Protocol.

“We are increasing wages by 45 percent, including benefits,” the president said, according to a statement on the government’s website. “That is why we are increasing the lowest wage of a public employee to TL 15,000 [$768 per month].”

Erdogan added that he would continue to work to increase civil servants’ wages and pensions.

“In July, we have preparations based on inflation differential and wealth share,” he said.

Turkey’s economy is a major theme heading into Sunday’s elections. Unorthodox interest rate cuts sought by Erdogan led to a devaluation of the Turkish lira in late 2021 and pushed inflation to a 24-year high of 85.5 percent last year.

The country’s struggling economy, also reeling after February’s devastating twin earthquakes, has been a major blow to Erdogan’s re-election campaign.

The president, who has led Turkey for 20 years, is campaigning for a promise of lower interest rates as a way to deal with the economic crisis. He has also pledged to bring inflation down to single digits and boost economic growth.