Turkish people feel pinch as Ukraine war drives up poverty
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The financial turmoil unleashed by the Ukrainian conflict is hitting Turkey harder than most, with its economy still grappling with galloping price hikes caused by last year's currency collapse.
In Istanbul, opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu is turning to a historic tradition to alleviate hardship as inflation surges past 50 percent.
His efforts have won international recognition, enhancing the mayor's reputation as a possible challenger to sitting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
For decades baker Yavuz Eraldi has been serving Turkey's largest city Istanbul, where – like in many other places – bread is a traditional staple of the poor. But not anymore, with the price of bread nearly doubling in less than a year.
Such hard times, Eraldi says, mean people are increasingly turning to a centuries-old charitable tradition called "on the hook".
Pointing to a plastic board above the counter, Eraldi explains: "A customer pays for three extra loaves. Then I write here on a board – 3 "on the hook", and people in need see that free bread is available.
Purchasing power plummets
People's purchasing power has really gone down. Even those on a monthly salary have started to come and ask if there's any bread left "on the hook".
"I've never seen this before, but this is the reality we're facing," Eraldi says.
Last year's collapse of the Turkish lira triggered a surge in inflation. Officially running at more than 50 percent, independent studies put it at double that.
Anger over rising prices is spilling onto the streets, with social media filled with videos of people burning their utility bills in impromptu protests over price hikes.
Anti-poverty groups say this winter people are facing a stark choice between eating or heating – a situation that is set to only worsen with financial turmoil caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey's economy is still recovering from last year's currency collapse coupled with the country's dependence on imported energy and wheat from Russia and Ukraine.
"If the currency weakens once more obviously, it will immediately pass through to inflation," warns analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners.
"Then inflation would shoot up to hyper inflation levels, which is unstable inflation which may reach three digits.
"Poverty has reached unprecedented levels. Of course, inflation makes it very difficult for the Turkish people to afford any discretionary items. All the budget is focused on heating, rent, and food.
Political fallout
"People are running out of patience with Erdogan. He is urging people to wait a couple more months, but if I am hungry and my children are cold, I don't have the luxury of waiting a couple more months," added Yesilada.
Istanbul's opposition-controlled municipality is now updating the "on-the-hook" tradition for the digital world to alleviate growing poverty.
"We need creative solutions to face this crisis, one of them is bills on the hook. The need is greater than at any other time," says Sengul Altan Arslan, deputy secretary of the Istanbul municipality.
Arslan shows a web page they created where people who can't afford their utility bills can post them, and where someone else can pay them through the site.
"When you look at the numbers, you see in November 18,000 people left their bills on the hook to be paid, whereas in December it was up to 25,000 bills. On February 1st, only 10,000 people put their bills "on the hook" in one day."
The dire situation we're in requires more solidarity," says Arslan.
Calls for help
Local officials say all those applying for help are verified as being "in need". So far, more than 300,000 bills have been paid through the scheme.
Initiatives like this by Istanbul's charismatic mayor Imamoglu are playing well in opinion polls, ranking him a potential frontrunner to unseat Erdogan in next year's presidential elections.
The mayor has turned his municipality into the country's biggest bread producer. Last month he visited a newly opened bakery that produces more than a million subsidised loaves a day.
Queues for subsidised bread have become a symbol of Turkey's economic pain. In Istanbul's Kadikoy district, scores of people patiently wait for bread, which costs about a third of the usual price.
Among them is retiree Ali Demir, who has high praise for the mayor.
"This is great work; the public should wake up," he says. "A service like this doesn't exist anywhere else in Turkey except here. People are hungry in this city. We need help."
A previous economic crisis brought an Istanbul mayor, President Erdogan, to power.
Imamoglu and his supporters may well be hoping that history repeats itself.
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