The minister of labour and social security, Mehmet Müezzinoğlu, announced that the retirement age is yet to be increased in Turkey. The retirement regulation plans in Turkey since the 1980s have been steadily eroding the rights of the retired and is notoriously called "retirement at the grave" due to the average life expectancy in Turkey. The AKP government is trying to eliminate the public pension system altogether while raising the retirement age and enforcing an automatic pension system instead of the existing public pension system.
Müezzinoğlu said "In none of the OECD countries people can retire below the age of 65. In Turkey, on the other hand, people can retire in different ages ranging from 37 to 65. While the average retirement age in OECD countries is 72, it is 52 in Turkey. It should be increased first to 53 and then to 54. We are planning to increase it to 58 for women, and 60 for men gradually."
However, while the average life expectancy in OECD countries is 80,5 according to 2013 data, it is 75 in Turkey for people born in 2012 and 65 for people born in 1990. The OECD data shows that there is a nine year gap between the country with the highest life expectancy, Japan, and the country with the lowest, Turkey.
The recent retirement age regulation in Turkey stipulates a gradual retirement schedule. According to this regulation, if a female employee started to pay her social security contribution in 2009, she can retire at the earliest age of 58 after having completed 7 thousand days of social security contribution. A male employee can retire at the earliest age of 60 for the same amount of social security contribution days. In other words, the employees have to wait for the required age to retire. The age limit gradually increases to 65 both for men and women if the required 7 thousand days of social security contribution can be completed by the year 2048.
PUBLIC PENSION SYSTEM IS AT STAKE
The public pension system will be totally eroded by the new pension system that has been in effect since the beginning of 2017. This new pension system, called the mandatory individual pension system (BES), stipulates the automatic enrolment of every employee under the age of 45 to the system.
According to this pension system, there will be 49 Turkish Liras of automatic deductions each month from the minimum wages. These automatic wage cuts can rise up to 320 Turkish Liras according to the salary rates. Wage cuts will be managed by Turkish Sovereign Wealth Fund Management Joint Stock Company and will become an important financial source for the capitalist classes.
Although the government promotes this mandatory individual pension system (BES) as a "second retirement", the public pension system will be totally eliminated in the long run.
