Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned Thursday that the financial strain on Türkiye's social security system has begun to weigh on the broader national economy. Speaking at an inauguration ceremony in Ankara, he identified social security shortfalls as a key driver of the economic instability the country experienced over the previous decade.
Erdoğan said the government had completed a social security reform package aimed at preserving social peace and reducing poverty. He stressed that every citizen deserved reliable, lasting coverage: "We cannot imagine a Turkish citizen not covered," he said.
The prime minister pointed to a chain of harmful effects, arguing that a swelling public deficit had pushed up interest rates, fueled inflation, and suppressed investment, employment, and growth. Transfers used to cover the social security gap reached 4.8 percent of national income in 2006, he noted, adding that poor income distribution would worsen without corrective action.
Erdoğan announced that a general health insurance program would be rolled out gradually beginning in early 2007.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in September 2006, in its own words.