TURKSTAT, which has been in the spotlight with its constantly changing management staff and the inflation rates it announces at critical times, has once again been at the center of discussion this week. Ekonomim newspaper columnist Alaattin Aktaş's July 8 article on TURKSTAT's product item prices caused quite a stir.2 After this controversial article, TURKSTAT President Erhan Çetinkaya held a press conference the next day to try to clear up the question marks. Still, his answers only raised even more questions.In his article, Alaattin Aktaş took the consumer goods whose average prices were last announced in April 2022 and brought them to today's price based on the price changes in the item groups to which the products belong, attempting to roughly show the current prices used by TURKSTAT in product calculations. For example, in April 2022, TURKSTAT announced the average tomato price as 18.53 TL and did not announce product prices afterward. However, TURKSTAT regularly announces the prices for the fruit and vegetable group to which tomatoes belong every month.According to TURKSTAT, there has been an increase of 54.84% in the fruit and vegetable group from April 2022 to June 2024. Based on this information, Aktaş tried to find the current prices of all fruits and vegetables by extrapolating the 54.84% increase to today and found, for example, the current price of tomatoes to be 28.69 TL. Alaattin Aktaş's calculation, as if all fruits and vegetables have increased at the same rate, is technically incorrect. Moreover, it is also possible that the average rent is 5844 TL, which is also possible in terms of the inflation calculation method (a situation related to being a tenant or not). What matters in inflation measurement is not the price level but the price change percentage. As a matter of fact, according to TURKSTAT, rents have increased by 314% in this period. But in general, the article still helps to get an idea.The day after this article, TURKSTAT Governor Erhan Çetinkaya held a press conference that drew a lot of reactions. President Çetinkaya claimed they are one of the countries that announce the inflation rate as early as the third of the month. However, he gave a contradictory answer to why product prices were not announced, saying it was difficult to reach by the third of the month. Previously, the agency had stated that "we prefer not to publish product prices because the announcement of product prices causes misleading interpretations." This statement noted that it was not announced because it did not reach the third of the month, not due to misinterpretation.Erhan Çetinkaya, the head of TURKSTAT, made another strange statement: "I think we need to examine what is the difference between inflation at 75% and inflation at 45%. There is no difference. Prices are rising again." 3&nbsp;As inflation rises, uncertainties increase, firms have difficulty in pricing and even increase margins by not taking risks against possible increases in costs. Moreover, it is impossible not to see a difference when credit costs rise even more as inflation increases, making many projects unfeasible and further increasing inequality and poverty.As a matter of fact, all the tightening steps taken by the Central Bank over the last year are aimed at reducing inflation from 70% to 40% by the end of this year.In addition to these bizarre defenses, the head of TURKSTAT, Çetinkaya, claimed that the rise in prices was due to exorbitant profits, in a sense taking the blame for the increase in prices off the government and putting it on big companies. There is no institutional basis for such a statement, and the institution has neither the authority nor the methodology to determine exorbitant prices. Moreover, blaming the business world contradicts the government's policies that primarily affect the poor. Erdal Bahçıvan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry, reacted to this accusation, which Çetinkaya made by going beyond his duties and authorities as the President of TURKSTAT, summarizing the situation with a tweet: "Instead of going beyond the scope of his duties today and accusing some segments of society about inflation, TURKSTAT should have provided a more convincing explanation to the questions about the inflation calculation method, which was wondered by society in general."4As a result, this debate is likely to continue as long as inflation remains high and the public sector's influence on wages remains significant. Public intervention in wages and prices deepens the inflation problem and undermines confidence in the economy. The new economic administration, in particular, and the government, in general, suffer from this loss of confidence.* Dr. Caner Gerek<hr fr-original-style="" style="height: 0px; overflow: visible; border-bottom: none; clear: both; user-select: none; break-after: page; box-sizing: border-box;"> https://cdn.tbmm.gov.tr/KKBSPublicFile/D28/Y2/T2/WebOnergeMetni/c3d4bbf9-eb20-4e80-ac3d-e7772a54c139.pdf2 https://www.ekonomim.com/kose-yazisi/iste-tuikin-devlet-sirri-gibi-sakladigi-madde-fiyatlari/7531143 https://www.bloomberght.com/tuik-baskani-acikladi-haziran-enflasyonu-neden-dusuk-geldi-23561034 https://x.com/erdal_bahcivan/status/1810699426211545248

The Freedom Observer

As a result, this debate is likely to continue as long as inflation remains high and the public sector's influence on wages remains significant. Public intervention in wages and prices deepens the inflation problem and undermines confidence in the economy. The new economic administration, in particular, and the government, in general, suffer from this loss of confidence.

The TURKSTAT Problem is Growing

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Turkey in 2022

<h2 fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Reports</h2>Amnesty International has declared Osman Kavala, Hakan Altınay, Çiğdem Mater, Can Atalay, Mine Özerden, Mücella Yapıcı, and Tayfun Kahraman, who were convicted in the Gezi trial, "thought criminals".TURKSTAT data showed that prices of agricultural inputs increased by 7.45% in April compared to the previous month, 117.31% compared with the last year, and 52.83% compared to the twelve-month averages. These rates were index records on an annual basis.Germany-based insurance company Allianz's report found that Turkey's annual food inflation in 2021 is 74%, reducing disposable income by 19% and food expenditure as a share of total cost by 25%. The report stated that the continued increase in food prices will cause a loss of more than 100% in purchasing power in Turkey. It was emphasized that Turkey ranked first in food inflation.<h3 fr-original-style="" style="margin: 0px; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.85); font-weight: 500; padding: 0px; box-sizing: border-box;">Opinion Polls</h3>In a survey conducted by the Yöneylem Social Research Center among young people between the ages of 18-22, 54.1% of the young people said they support the transition to a parliamentary system. And the rate of those who support the presidential government system remained at 24.8%.42.5% of new voters said they would vote according to the economic situation, while 27.5% said they would vote according to their worldview. CHP received 36.9% of the votes and AK Party received 21.2%.Yöneylem Social Research Center survey showed that 55.4% of society thinks that election security is under threat. The rate of those who did not think that election security was under threat was 35.3%.

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