Protests Erupt in Turkey Over 100% Rise In Energy Bill

Burdened by inflation, 100 percent rise in gas prices and electricity bills since the year began, citizens of Turkey have taken to the streets and social media to protest their plights.

Protesters on the streets, who called on the government to revoke the recent price hikes in the energy bills, told the local media that they have had enough of the two to threefold increase in bills they received over the past month.

Investors King learned that Turkey is currently facing a shortage in nationwide gas delivery, as its major supplier, Russia is currently facing geopolitical tensions with neighbouring country, Ukraine. Its second supplier, Iran has cut gas supply to the country.

Last week, Iran notified Turkey of a 10-day halt to natural gas supplies, over harsh winter conditions affecting the Middle Eastern nation’s gas production.

With the Russian gas supply dwindling, the Iranian supply cut coming at a very bad time, Turkey with no replaceable supplier, has had to impose restrictions to limit gas use and cut electricity supplies for industrial sites.

At the beginning of the year, the country’s Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) announced that it has raised electricity prices by more than 100 percent for high-demand commercial users and businesses.

Turkish residents were not left out from the hike as their households’ electricity bills were raised by 50 percent.

According to Turkey’s national oil and gas distributor, BOTAŞ, the natural gas prices for residential use rose by 25 percent, and 50 percent for industrial use in January. The increment, BOTAŞ says, was 15 percent for electricity-generating industrial use.

The energy price hikes put more financial burden on the Turks, who currently are challenged by a 44 percent depreciation of the Turkish lira against the US dollar last year. This significantly reduced the citizens’ purchasing power, as well as annual inflation, which reached its highest level in 19 years at 36.1 percent in December 2021.

At the protest, many of the Turks pushed for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his administration to resign or cancel the price hikes.

On social media, Turkish singer Yeşim Salkım posted a video on Twitter that shows her wrapped in a blanket in a dim room. Salkim lamented that she received a gas bill of TL 2,200 ($165/N68,600) in January.

“I’m wrapped in a blanket with only this one light on. Am I living in a country other than Turkey and just don’t know it? What are these price hikes? Are we in a dream or something? Somebody poke me and wake me up,” the singer says in the video.