Turkish government 'standing idly by' as Europe braces for energy crisis
CHP deputy chair Ahmet Akın slammed the AKP for "sleeping" as Europe braces for an energy crisis that has seen gas prices soar to record-high levels.
Duvar English
Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy chair Ahmet Akın criticized the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for failing to adopt measures in the face of soaring gas prices as European states take precautions.
Akın prepared a report on how Europe is getting ready for the energy crisis, noting that most prices have been increasing in Europe since April, while this upward trend has been visible in Turkey for the past three years.
"The AKP government didn't take concrete steps against the price increases in Turkey. Electric and gas bills have more than doubled in the past three years," Akın said, daily Cumhuriyet reported.
Noting that European states such as France, Italy and Spain have reserved millions of Euros as financial aid packages targeted to protect lower-income families, the main opposition deputy urged the government to reserve funds to help compensate energy costs over the winter.
"The winter fund should be initiated immediately. Our citizens are being blatantly impoverished. The government is looking out for the palace and their posse instead of the people," Akın said, referring to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's presidential palace.
The European Commission advised 27 European Union (EU) member states to limit energy taxing rates and to diminish taxing overall, the main opposition deputy noted, adding that renewable energy incentives could be bumped.
Natural gas prices have surged in Europe, fuelling a crisis that is already impacting companies and consumers' bills.
According to financial operator ICE, the price of natural gas is six times higher than last year.
Many countries are now asking the EU to work on a common solution to face the crisis, but different countries are proposing different solutions.
On Sept. 29, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Erdoğan that Turkey is shielded from the gas crisis thanks to the Russian-built TurkStream gas pipeline.
"And now, when we see quite difficult, turbulent processes on the European gas market, Turkey is feeling absolutely confident and stable," Putin said in comments on TurkStream.