HÜDA PAR Spokesperson Yunus Emiroğlu delivered a sharp critique of Türkiye’s economic and social policies during a press conference on Thursday, calling for a morally grounded minimum wage, an end to the crushing debt-interest cycle, stronger protection of the traditional family, and urgent action on food security.

Emiroğlu described the current minimum wage as wholly inadequate, especially given that nearly half of all workers in Türkiye earn at this level. “With hunger threshold now exceeding 28,000 TL and the poverty line surpassing 92,000 TL, it is impossible for a family to survive on the minimum wage under today’s economic conditions,” he said.

He rejected the practice of tying wage increases solely to official inflation figures, arguing that reducing human dignity to “technical data” is unacceptable. “The worker who carries the heaviest load in production deserves at least the basic conditions for a dignified life,” Emiroğlu stressed, urging the Minimum Wage Commission to place moral responsibility above statistical calculations.

Turning to the proposed 2026 state budget, the HÜDA PAR spokesperson highlighted a stark imbalance: projected interest payments of 2.74 trillion TL will exceed the 1.94 trillion TL allocated to the Ministry of National Education.

“This debt-based financing model has trapped the country in an endless spiral of borrowing and astronomical interest burdens,” he said. “Almost one-fifth of every tax lira collected is handed over to modern usurers instead of reaching struggling workers, retirees, and families.”

While welcoming the government’s decision to declare the coming decade the “Family Decade,” Emiroğlu warned that soaring divorce rates, declining marriage numbers, and a fertility rate of just 1.48 children per woman reveal deep policy failures.

He criticised indefinite alimony practices, biased child-custody rulings, state-funded gender reassignment surgeries, and television content that “normalises the destruction of family values.” Noting that homemakers have roughly double the fertility rate of working women, he called for family-friendly employment policies and a comprehensive overhaul of legislation that weakens the traditional family structure.

Emiroğlu raised alarm over rising food prices, inadequate inspections, and frequent poisoning scandals, warning that public health and agricultural sustainability are at risk. “Economic pressures and skyrocketing input costs are driving producers out of the sector,” he said, urging immediate measures to boost domestic production, tighten quality controls, and guarantee safe and affordable food for every household.

Finally, the spokesperson denounced the UN-circulated “Gaza Plan” attributed to former U.S. President Donald Trump, asserting that it is designed to entrench rather than end Israeli occupation.

Despite announced ceasefires, attacks on Gaza and Lebanon continue, he noted, criticising regional governments for their silence. “Those who stay quiet in the face of this Israeli project are opening the door for the same threat to reach their own countries,” Emiroğlu warned, calling on Muslim publics to demand uninterrupted humanitarian aid to Gaza and unequivocal rejection of any plan that serves Israeli occupation interests.

HÜDA PAR’s wide-ranging statement underscores the party’s view that Türkiye’s most pressing challenges require solutions rooted in moral and Islamic values rather than purely technocratic or financial approaches. (ILKHA)