Shopkeepers and members of Turkey's main opposition party set energy bills alight in protest on Wednesday (February 9) amid surging prices as a wave of inflation-fueled discontent spread across the country.
Inflation leaped to near 50% in January, raising the cost of living for Turks already struggling to make ends meet after a currency crash in December sparked by President Tayyip Erdogan's unorthodox low interest rates policy.
The government has raised the minimum wage by 50% this year in response to the turmoil. But it also hiked prices for gas, power, petrol and road tolls to account for import price volatility, straining household budgets and deepening poverty.
In the capital Ankara, members of main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) set their power bills on fire in city centre. In a written statement, CHP said some households' power bills were as high as their rent.
In southeast province of Diyarbakir, dozens of shopkeepers flocked to the streets after work to protest the surge in power bills.
"We want local administrators and bureaucrats to hear us. We want them to respond to our pleas and find a solution to this before receiving the next bill," a shopkeeper, Heybet Icen said.
The record currency depreciation and soaring prices have hit Erdogan's opinion poll ratings ahead of elections set for no later than June 2023. The government says credit, exports and investment will help the country weather inflation.
Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said a new measure regarding power bills would be announced "very soon".
Mayors from 11 cities, including Istanbul's Ekrem Imamoglu, sought central government action to ease the "unbearable" burden of energy price hikes. "The significant cost rises are now making it difficult for local administrations to provide services," they said in a joint statement.
Their demands included a VAT and special consumption tax exemption for fuel used by municipalities, and lower tariffs for public transport power and natural gas usage.
