Turkish opposition media ridicule pre-election 'bribe'
With an eye on the March elections, the Turkish government, under the lead of the Justice and Development Party, is providing citizens with relief from credit card debt — a move the opposition deems bribery.
ANKARA, Turkey — Opposition newspapers ridiculed the Turkish government’s plan to provide relief from credit card debt today, calling it a pre-election bribe.
Years of aggressively marketed credit have led Turks to run up debts that are reported to amount to a staggering 100 billion Turkish liras, around $18.3 billion, nationally.
Individuals’ financial troubles are likely to be a major factor in the local elections on March 31, with inflation running at 20% and unemployment at 11%. Turks tend to use municipal elections as an opportunity to give the government a warning, voting less cautiously than they do in parliamentary and presidential polls.
The plan, announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, enables Turks to go to the state-run Ziraat Bank and apply for debt rescheduling at low rates of interest. “Any retail client from any bank can apply,” Erdogan said.
