In the ongoing debate on the draft budget for 2026, Sezai Temelli, deputy chair of the DEM Party, strongly criticized the government’s distribution policy. Temelli accused the government of exacerbating social inequalities with the new budget – particularly between western Turkey and the Kurdish provinces in the southeast of the country. “Is it a coincidence that unemployment, poverty, and inequality are particularly high in Kurdistan? No, this is the result of an unresolved political problem,” Temelli said, referring to the Kurdish question. The current budget plan once again fails to address the structural causes of this inequality, he noted.
Criticism of education and housing policy
Temelli pointed to rising child poverty and criticized the fact that even simple measures such as free meals for schoolchildren were met with resistance. He also took aim at the state housing program: “Despite numerous new buildings, the rental rate has risen from 22 to 36 percent over the last ten years. This shows that housing construction is failing to meet the needs of the population. TOKI does not act like a social institution, but like a construction company.” Temelli also sees serious shortcomings in health policy. “While more hospitals are being built, rural regions such as Muş continue to lack functioning healthcare services. People are dying on the streets because the hospital in Muş has still not been completed after years of construction,” he warned.
Appeal for social justice
In addition to material issues, Temelli also addressed socio-political issues: growing drug problems, violence against women, and young people who are increasingly coming into conflict with the law. He said the cause of this was structural social injustice, which also had an impact on political culture. However, Temelli believes that PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan’s “Call for Peace and a Democratic Society,” written in February, offers a glimmer of hope. “A new path has been laid out for peace and democratic coexistence.” According to Temelli, these signals have been largely ignored by the government, but have been heard by the population. “If we want a united republic, then we need to talk about the causes of conflict, not just its consequences. Peace is not a foregone conclusion, but requires concrete political will and a budget that reflects this will,” he emphasized.
Call for democratic budget policy
Temelli called for the draft budget to be revised in the spirit of “democratic transformation.” He said there was a need for a “democratic financial constitution” that did not allocate resources unilaterally to capital, but rather promoted social and regional justice. Women, the poor, people with disabilities, and groups affected by discrimination must be specifically supported, as must environmental concerns. “What this country needs is bread and peace. Both, because one cannot exist without the other,” said Temelli. He called for a “social and climate-friendly budget culture” that grows from the bottom up – from schools, fields, and streets. The DEM party, he said, has already symbolically created an alternative budget: “The budget of the voiceless.” With regard to the debate on a new constitution, Temelli concluded: “If you want a democratic constitution, you have to start with a democratic budget.”