According to the information given by Turkey’s main opposition party, CHP's Antalya deputy Çetin Osman Budak, applications for unemployment pay in April 2020 in Turkey’s Antalya have quadrupled compared to the last year. The data from the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞ-KUR) show that 4 thousand 351 people applied for unemployment pay in April 2019 in Antalya alone, while this year the number has increased to 17 thousand 431.
On the other hand, 142 thousand 90 people applied for unemployment pay in April 2019 across the country. In April 2020, when layoffs were banned, the number has increased to 308 thousand 968. “As other measures that Turkey’s ruling AKP has taken amid pandemic, the ban on layoffs has also remained on paper,” Budak said.
Budak submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister of Family, Labor and Social Services Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk, asking “What are the reasons for the increase in the applications for unemployment pay despite the ban on layoffs? How much administrative fines have been imposed on how many bosses who have violated the law banning layoffs?”
