With the youth unemployment rate above 25 percent, Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Işıkhan characterized jobless young people as the “other side” and blamed them for making “excuses” instead of accepting available jobs, stating that they suffer from a “perception disorder.”
The remarks came during his appearance on the 'Son Durum' program hosted on Ensonhaber’s YouTube channel, Sept. 24, 2025.
“We find jobs, and they say the workplace is too far or the wages are too low,” Işıkhan said.
He defended Turkey’s minimum wage, currently 22,104 lira (about $530), saying it had improved significantly over the years and was now 'in a very good position' compared with other countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. “In Egypt, for example, it's around $100–$110,” he said.
On pensions, Işıkhan compared Turkey and Germany, saying, “In Germany, people work and pay premiums for 40 years and draw pensions for 15–20 years. In Turkey, we collect premiums for 20 years under difficult conditions and pay pensions for 40 years.” He emphasized this was a right, not a complaint, and added, “If I can’t leave my wife and children a livable pension after I die, we must question the existence of a social state.”
He said 67 percent of the Social Security Institution’s budget is allocated to pensions.
Sözcü's Rahmi Turan wrote that the minister was mocking the public.
He pointed out that while a pension payment could buy 2.5 gold coins in 2002, today 22.104 lira cannot even buy one.
CHP Deputy Chair Gamze Taşcıer said “the real issue is not nominal wage growth, but the decline in real purchasing power. The AKP government is turning poverty into a permanent reality while selling dreams to workers.”
