Civil Servants Take to Streets in Ankara Over Rising Living Costs
The streets of Ankara echoed this week with the voices of hundreds of civil servants, marching not for political change, but for survival. In a stark demonstration of the deepening economic strain in Türkiye, around 800 members of the Confederation of Public Employees’ Unions (KESK) converged on the capital to demand a realistic pay rise, declaring that their salaries can no longer keep pace with a crushing cost of living.
Carrying banners and united in frustration, the protestors highlighted a painful arithmetic of modern life. “The increase in rents is almost three times higher than the pay rise we received,” explained KESK co-chair Ayfer Kocak, standing outside the labor ministry. “Our salaries are not even enough to cover the rent increases alone.”
The Growing Chasm Between Pay and Prices
The march underscores a severe disconnect between official economic figures and the daily reality for workers. While the government reports an annual inflation rate that fell to 30.89% in December, independent economists and unions paint a far grimmer picture. The Inflation Research Group (ENAG) estimates the true annual inflation rate for December 2025 was 56.14%.
This gap in data translates into a direct struggle for basic necessities. According to the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TURK-IS), the monthly poverty threshold for a family of four has surged to 98,000 liras (approximately $2,270). Meanwhile, the absolute minimum required just to feed such a family exceeds 30,000 liras, with food inflation hovering near 43%.
“We Can No Longer Make Ends Meet”
For the teachers, municipal workers, and administrators on the march, a recent government-mandated public sector wage hike of 18.6% for the next six months feels like an insult. Unions uniformly decry the increase as utterly insufficient, a stopgap measure that fails to address the structural crisis.
“The government is condemning civil servants to live in degrading conditions by relying on misleading data,” said Tulay Yildirim, a local teachers’ union leader. Her sentiment was echoed by Osman Seheri of the municipal workers’ union, who stated plainly, “With such wages, it is impossible to live in a major city.” He described a reality where affording proper work attire has become a luxury.
More Than a Protest: A Question of Fairness
This demonstration is more than a call for higher wages; it is a fundamental demand for dignity and a fair share. The protestors framed their struggle as a claim on a national budget funded by the taxes of all citizens, including themselves. They are the backbone of public services, yet they are being pushed toward poverty, experiencing what Kocak termed “growing poverty and insecurity.”
The scene in Ankara is a powerful symptom of the economic pressures facing millions in Türkiye. It reveals the human cost behind the inflation statistics—the families calculating every lira, the professionals who can no longer afford their city, and the growing fear that the social contract is fraying. As the civil servants made clear, when the caretakers of the state can no longer care for their own families, the crisis is not merely economic, but a profound challenge to social stability and justice.
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