Soaring energy bills deepen crisis for Erdogan

ISTANBUL >> It began with a few outraged customers posting photographs of their electricity bills to social media. But such complaints have quickly snowballed into a full-blown political crisis for the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.

Turks have been hit with runaway inflation — now officially more than 48% — for several months, and criticism is growing even from Erdogan's own allies as he struggles to lift the country out of an economic crisis. The Turkish lira has sunk to record lows. Food and fuel prices have already more than doubled. Now it is electricity.

Even as Erdogan raised the minimum wage last month to help low-income workers, his government warned that there would be an increase in the utilities charges it sets. But few expected such a shock.

“We are devastated,” said Mahmut Goksu, 26, who runs a barbershop in Konya province in central Turkey. Goksu's January electricity bill soared to $104 from $44 and is now higher than the monthly rent he pays on his shop.

Ilyas Senturk, 29, a motorbike courier in Istanbul, said his power bill had more than doubled, but friends had received bills two times or even four times the size of his.

Turkey's economy was already in recession before the pandemic hit, and because it relies heavily on tourism and the hospitality industry, the months of lockdown have badly hurt many businesses. The government offered some compensation, but mostly in the form of loans to tide over businesses and workers. Many are still paying those off.

Political opponents of Erdogan have been warning for months that the country is heading for economic collapse. But in a system almost completely under Erdogan's sole control, he makes decisions on virtually everything and keeps his own counsel.

Despite warnings from economists, Erdogan has steadfastly refused to raise interest rates, the usual tool to combat inflation, arguing that it would only hurt the poor.

The price of electricity is set by a government agency, the Energy Market Regulatory Board, or EPDK, which would not have made the raises without the president's approval.

Erdogan's opponents have leapt at the doubling of electricity bills as the latest sign of mismanagement by his government.