The minister’s remarks came on the heels of a recent parliamentary question from Democratic Left Party (DSP) deputy Süleyman Yağız. The deputy asked for the implementation of regulations to close the pension imbalance. Acknowledging that new legislation is necessary to address the problem, the minister said the government is currently working on a few new regulations to improve the retirement payment system. Declining to comment on when the regulations would go into effect, the minister said the government expected to finalize a successful switch to a new system as soon as possible.
There are five separate retirement classes in Turkey, including public workers, public workers under a service contract, public agricultural workers, freelancers and self-employed agricultural workers, each subject to a different social security law and receiving different amounts in pension payments.
“We have set a target to bring about a single pension system that will bestow the same rights on these five different classes,” Dinçer noted.
In response to a question on when retirees would receive housing provision aid (KEY) payments and consumer price index (CPI) reimbursements, the minister said that following separate court decisions on several complaints, these payments were made to some retirees in June 2004 and that the government expected other related cases to be concluded before they deliver KEY and CPI reimbursements to the rest of the pensioners. Pensioners had separately appealed to court to receive CPI and KEY payments. The government reflects the increase in inflation on pensions in the form of CPI reimbursements.
Launched in 1987, KEY was a state-controlled practice aimed at providing housing for government employees, allowing them to pay for homes in small installments deducted from their paychecks over an extended term. However, the project ended without success in 1995, and people from whom KEY deductions were made sought to recover their money. The government started KEY reimbursement payments in 2008; however, some 5 million people did not bother to visit their banks and collect their repayment as they were to receive less than TL 50.
