CHP Deputy Chairman Veli Ağbaba, in terms of the minimum wage, Turkey ranks the worst fourth country in Europe. The opposition MP noted that the minimum wage, which was 335 euros in January, declined to 295 euros with the depreciation in lira.
The average minimum wage in the EU countries is 5 thousand Turkish liras (750 euros) and it is equivalent to about 2.5 times the minimum wage in Turkey.
Albania, Macedonia, and Bulgaria have lower minimum wages, according to the rankings.
The Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK) had stated, at the beginning of the year, that the minimum wage for 2019 was far from the standards and practices in the world.
"While the amount given by Turkstat this year was 2213 TL, the Minimum Wage Detection Commission has set a figure below this amount as the minimum wage. A minimum wage below the amount set by TURKSTAT does not meet the definition of the minimum wage," announced DİSK. "The determined minimum wage is not a liveable fee," it added.
Although the new minimum wage is only 77 TL above the starvation line reported in November 2018, Turkey’s big capitalists from the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) and the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD) expressed their appreciations to the government after the minimum wage was set.
