ISTANBUL (A.A) - Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz has said that Turkey's social security system's loss since 1965 was 179 billion USD. ''This is more than the money we spent to fight against separatist terrorism,'' he said.
Yilmaz stated that an institution which is about to bankcrupt cannot provide any service to people, even at minimum level.
He said that the state sometimes took loans whose interest rate was 300 percent in order to close the deficit of the social security system, however this money was not used for production but to close the deficits of the system.
Yilmaz indicated that during the 19 months he was in the government in 1997, he worked to reform Turkey's social security system but failed since this was a minority government. So, this was the first thing they did when they came to power in 1999, he said. Yilmaz remarked that the finance deficit in the last two years dropped by four billion USD.
''We are striving to join the EU,'' he continued. ''If the people of a country are forming long lines in front of consulates in order to build a future in another country, or if people are forming lines in front of bread kiosks to buy bread just a little cheaper, or if our elderly people are waiting for hours in front of the banks to get their pansions at a time when need to be respected most, we must do something to given an end to these lines especially if we want to become a part of the EU.''
Speaking about the improvements in the SKK, Yilmaz said that the government started a system where people could call and get an appointment to prevent long lines at hospitals.
With these ten new SSK hospitals, 2,000 more beds will be added to the system.