Low-income citizens wait weeks to receive COVID-19 financial assistance from government

Many Turkish families have complained that they have not yet received the 1,000 Turkish liras of Covid-19 financial aid promised by the government, although it has been weeks since they filed their application. “Are you [the gov't] going to give [the money] or not? Please take a look [at the application] and provide me with a clear result. As a citizen of this country, I want to benefit if I have the right to do so,” wrote one person on the internet.

Serkan Alan / DUVAR

In the two months following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Turkey’s Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services has been providing low-income families with cash payments of 1,000 Turkish Liras ($147) per month. According to figures from the ministry, the number of people receiving this aid had reached 4 million people in May.

An additional six million people have applied to receive this aid for a third month. However, many who applied in April are still waiting for the aid, and upon checking the e-government online system to check the status of their application, they receive the following response: “progress is ongoing.”

Some of these people have taken to online consumer sites to complain about the e-government system:

“It has been more than a month. When I call they say that [the application] has not appeared in the system. When I go to social services, they say there’s no record in the system. Given that they aren't in the system, why does e-government say that the process is ongoing? There is an application number. Did I register in another country? My husband is unemployed and we rent our home. I ask you to inform us of the situation, everyone has been waiting for more than a month for the process to be finished and to receive a response,” wrote one person.

“Are you going to give [the money] or not? Please take a look and provide me with a clear result. As a citizen of this country, I want to benefit if I have the right to do so,” wrote another person who said they have been waiting for a month and a half for the financial aid. 

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