Turkey’s Department of Presidential Security, responsible for the protection of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his family and residences, spent more than 1.3 billion Turkish lira ($38.2 million) in the first seven months of 2024, the Birgün daily reported, citing official data.
According to data from Turkey’s Security General Directorate (EGM), affiliated with the Interior Ministry, the report said Erdoğan’s security expenses in the first seven months of this year, TL 1.354 billion, was approximately equivalent to the monthly pensions of 108,240 retirees in Turkey when compared to the lowest pension, which is TL 12,500 ($370). It is also equivalent to the one-month salary of 79,588 minimum wage earners.
The Department of Presidential Security’s spending in the January-August period of 2024 exceeded its total spending for the entire year of 2023, which was TL 1 billion ($29.6 million).
According to Birgün, the Department of Presidential Security’s spending has surpassed that of several key units within the EGM, including the Intelligence Unit, the Counterterrorism Bureau (TEM), Cybercrime Unit, the Narcotics Department and the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department (KOM).
The department’s expenditures surged from TL 263 million ($7.7 million) in 2020 to TL 306 million ($9 million) in 2021, TL 526 million ($15.5 million) in 2022 and TL 1 billion ($29.6 million) in 2023, Birgün said.
Erdoğan’s large security detail, traveling with him in a convoy of more than 10 vehicles, has drawn criticism for extravagance due to the use of a number of luxury cars and also for making Erdoğan, who was called the “Man of the People” in campaign slogans, inaccessible to the people.
The precise number of security personnel guarding President Erdoğan and the presidential premises has remained undisclosed for years, with queries from members of parliament going unanswered.
Turkey’s poor and middle-income families have been hit the hardest by an economic crisis that saw the official annual inflation rate reach a decades-high of 85 percent in October 2022. The rate then fell off with fluctuations.
According to official data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the annual rate of inflation stood at 52 percent in August, but ENAG, an independent group of economists, disputed TurkStat data and said annual inflation was much higher than was announced by TurkStat, standing at 90.35 percent in August.
The high cost of living in the country makes it difficult for millions to buy even their basic necessities and pay their rent and bills.
The news of the expenditure comes despite a circular sent to all public agencies last year, in which Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said they should re-evaluate all expenditures, except for earthquake-related expenses, adding that cost-saving measures will be strictly enforced.
The circular reminded recipients of a presidential circular dated June 30, 2021 that emphasized the need for cost-saving in public institutions’ expenditures, a reduction of bureaucratic procedures and effective, economical and efficient use of public resources.