Turkey enters the new week with two different realities: the narrated and the lived...
What is said on the screens and what is said on the street no longer coincide. There is again talk of early elections in politics, but this is not the agenda of the citizens. The real question is this: What will change if there is an election? Because it's not about the ballot box, it's about livelihood.
The economy is described with data; life is measured in the market. There is a large group of people who have to live less with the same salary. As prices rise, living space is shrinking. In the past, we used to learn about inflation from statements, today everyone calculates their own inflation while shopping. That is why one sentence stands out: My pocket speaks, not the numbers.
Justice is no longer a technical debate. The perception of judicial processes directly affects the sense of trust. The question that is increasingly being voiced in society is: According to whom is justice? As this question grows, the sense of trust weakens.
Social security is also back on the agenda. Especially families are concerned not only about economic but also physical security for their children. This situation directly affects the mood of the society.
Foreign policy may seem distant, but its impact is felt at home. Wars and crises are no longer seen through an ideological lens, but through an economic one. People have a clear view: How will we pay for this?
On the other hand, there is no memorable, powerful project that will directly transform life or a concrete promise of life. There is neither a clear vision of the government that convinces large segments of society, nor a clear roadmap of the opposition that would reassure the public. Politics is increasingly stuck in a debate on “operation or law”. However, there is a sentence that no one has heard: What will your life be like tomorrow?
Today, the “issue of survival” has also changed its meaning. It is no longer about border security, but livelihood security. The most fundamental question for people is whether life is sustainable.
As we come to the end of this article, the words of Barış Manço, which we listen to with a smile, come to mind: “I'm not speaking out of turn, friends, I feel like a cucumber these days. I think if they sliced me into slices, the Mediterranean would be tzatziki.”
Today that saying is no longer just a joke.
“Even in the Mediterranean, which we call ”the storehouse of cucumbers", how many families can afford tzatziki? A kilo of cucumber, a kilo of yogurt... Even the simplest table item is now a matter of calculation.
TurkStat releases data. Figures are shared. But how those figures are reflected on the table is a fact that everyone measures in their own lives.
In the end, the picture is clear: People live by what they experience, not what they are told. Although it may seem like politics is being talked about, what is really being talked about is life itself. And today, the real agenda of this country is centered on this question:
What can you put on a table?