CHP leader says gov't change can end Türkiye's woes

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel said on July 24, Türkiye’s economic troubles could be resolved only with a change in government.

"The ballot box will come, and all of Türkiye's problems will be solved by the new government. There's no way around this," Özel told reporters at CHP headquarters on July 24.

Özel connected the Central Bank’s recent interest rate decisions and inflation trends to the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

"Had the March 19 coup not occurred, the Central Bank would have been steadily reducing interest rates by 2.5 percentage points every month, and this would have continued," he said.

"Those who raised inflation in this country from single digits to 150 percent... once again imposed the bitter pill on the people after the [2023] election, entering a period of austerity," Özel added.

He claimed that the downward trend in interest rates was interrupted by the detention of İmamoğlu. The mayor was taken into custody as part of a corruption investigation on May 19 and arrested four days later — the same day CHP announced his presidential bid.

The Central Bank cut its policy rate by 300 basis points to 43 percent on July 24. It previously cut the benchmark rate at its December, January and March meetings. In April, the bank raised the rate to 46 percent before leaving it unchanged in June.

Özel argued that the investigations into opposition-led municipalities had dealt a six-month setback to the economy.

"There's no money to raise the minimum wage to 30,000 lira or equalize pensions with the minimum wage, but there is money to imprison Ekrem," he said.

"We need to get Türkiye back on track. There's only one instrument for this, and that's the ballot box."

Meanwhile, İmamoğlu was taken to a hospital due to back pain and later returned to prison, reports said.