Despite the Turkish government's announcement of austerity measures, the President's exception and the folding of presidential discretionary fund expenditures indicate that the current budget deficit will increase.
What added to the Turks’ frustration with Erdogan was that his wife, Amina, suggested that people reduce the portions of their meals to prevent waste, while the cost of Erdogan's meals reached the sum of 7 million TL.
The president has always said that he represents ordinary people, and he himself came from humble roots, but now we see that he lives like a sultan while others are suffering,” said Hasan Ozbelik, a 71-year-old retiree who sells tissues in Istanbul.
Turkey's budget deficit has increased once more as of June, during which 25 billion liras were spent. In the same month the previous year, the budget deficit was 19.4 billion TL. The total budget deficit for the first half of this year was 32.5 billion TL, including the June deficit.
The most concrete sign that the call for cutting down government expenditure will remain on lips and paper are the presidency's discretionary expenditures, which are the biggest burden on the budget and increased fourfold to 463 million TL in June and reached a total of 1.3 billion TL in six months", main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said.
"People are starving, but he doesn't care. He built a summer palace for himself," Kılıçdaroğlu told his party's parliamentary group.
"A new austerity circular has been issued. The circular includes a palace. He issues an austerity circular and says 'except me'," said Kılıçdaroğlu.
Analysts believe that Erdogan is contending with an array of economic troubles, an increasingly disgruntled populace and deteriorating relations with Turkey’s Eastern and Western allies.
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