Disabled Turks protest benefit cuts
A legal amendment cutting financial support for people with disabilities has sparked a wave of protests in Turkey, with a big demonstration scheduled for May outside parliament.
In Turkey, people with disabilities are in an uproar. The state has begun to cut monthly “home care” salaries paid to their relatives under a legal amendment passed last year. To benefit from the salary, the family now has to pass an “income test.”
The government pays 793 Turkish lira (about $300) per month to individuals who care for a disabled person in their home. Under the new law, one becomes eligible for the money only if they pass the "income test" — that is, if the monthly per capita household income is less than 572 Turkish lira ($212).
The new law has provoked an angry outcry. Under the new eligibility criteria, the state virtually pays the money not for the needs of the disabled individual, but as an aid to the family, taking into account its income. Hundreds of thousands of disabled people are now faced with the risk of having their home care payments terminated. With general elections looming June 7, the authorities are still lax in enforcing the criteria. In many provinces, though, the termination of the payments has begun, and so have the protests.
The disabled are infuriated that the government has set an eye on their care expenses rather than doing more to raise their standards of living. Associations of disabled individuals have organized demonstrations, urging the government to scrap the “income test.” The demonstrations, held in 13 provinces, including Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, are planned to be further expanded in the coming days.
