Major Turkish party leader vows country will overcome inflation

ANKARA

Turkiye, with all of its people, will overcome the "monster" of inflation, the leader of a prominent political party in the country said on Tuesday.

"Together, we will overcome inflation. We won't allow the oppression of any of our citizens to this monster (inflation)," Devlet Bahceli, the leader of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), told his party's parliamentary group.

High living costs are "not the destiny" of the Turkish people, Bahceli said in his weekly address to MHP lawmakers, adding that it was "our main duty to hold the hand of our people with low and middle income."

Turkiye posted a 36.08% annual rise in consumer prices in 2021, the highest in 19 years, the country’s statistical authority said on Monday.

In November, consumer prices posted a yearly increase of 21.31%, TurkStat said in a routine data release.

On a monthly basis, inflation rose by 13.58% in December, up from 3.51% of the November figure.​​​​​​​