Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız, however, said the price hikes are the normal consequence of changing conditions in oil prices and exchange rates, two integral parameters of price determination formulas set out in gas purchasing deals between Turkey and exporting countries.
Underlining that a recession is still under way in the economy in the wake of a global financial crisis, Turkish Tradesmen’s and Artisans’ Confederation (TESK) Chairman Bendevi Palandöken said the government must avoid raising natural gas prices at any cost, except for necessary adjustments forced by changes in oil prices and inflation. Palandöken said artisans and industrialists, who are already struggling to stay afloat amidst the crisis, will be pushed into a more difficult corner. “It is unacceptable to place extra burdens on people’s shoulders instead of easing their loads,” he said. “Rather, the government must bring about measures to bring relief to small companies,” Palandöken underlined.
Lawyer Bülent Deniz, who specializes in consumer rights, also defends price arrangements with respect to oil prices and inflation but says it would be an “injustice” to make consumers pay bills stemming from the unproductive operation of state-owned companies. “Public services must be provided while keeping in mind that the state is a welfare state. It is absolutely wrong to target supernormal profits from public services,” he argued.
