President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday attended the general assembly of the Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TISK) in the capital Ankara as he urged top businesses to give concessions to workers in minimum wage talks.
Labor rights and the minimum wage dominated Erdoğan’s speech. He praised the TISK for contributing some $200 billion (TL 8.52 trillion) to Türkiye’s gross domestic product and accounting for almost half of Türkiye’s overall exports, as well as for supporting the country against multiple challenges.
“They clearly stood with the nation and the state, unlike other (business) entities attempting to social engineer upon orders they received from abroad,” he said.
The president did not elaborate, but he was obviously referring to the country’s other major business body, the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSIAD), which he has accused of meddling in politics in the past.
Erdoğan then went on to invite the TISK to reach a consensus with labor unions in minimum wage talks. A committee set up to determine the new minimum wage will hold its first meeting on Friday, with participation of unions, government officials and the TISK. “I expect the TISK delegation there to shoulder responsibility. Every step you will take in favor of my worker friends will return to you as prosperity,” Erdoğan said.
“Shrouds have no pockets,” he added.
“What we will take to the afterlife is not the assets we have but a legacy of justice and righteousness,” Erdoğan said as he invoked religious symbolism to convince the businesspeople to raise the minimum wage bid for workers.
Türkiye has raised the minimum wage by 30% for 2025, to TL 22,104, and a similar figure is expected again in this year's talks.
The minimum wage talks dominate the agenda of Türkiye's working population, as the wage issue directly has an impact on some 7 million people estimated to work on this wage, while millions of others work for wages slightly above the minimum wage. The talks are expected to be concluded by the last day of 2025, and the new minimum wage will be in force on Jan. 1, 2026. The total cost of the current minimum wage to employers is TL 30,621 per worker.
Based on the Turkish central bank’s 16% inflation target for 2026, the net monthly minimum wage would rise to TL 25,640 with a gross amount of TL 30,165. However, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek recently said they expect year-end 2025 inflation to be around 31%, shifting forecasts for the minimum wage accordingly. Under a 31% increase, the minimum wage would rise to TL 28,956 net and TL 34,066 gross. At 32%, it would reach TL 29,177 net and TL 34,326 gross. No wage figures are expected to be negotiated at the first meeting. Instead, workers and employers are expected to outline their expectations, and the two sides will review the statistics that will form the basis for determining the new minimum wage.
The president said a safe working environment was also a labor right. He listed a series of incidents that injured and killed workers in past years, from a fire in a nightclub during the process of renovation in Istanbul to the deaths of female workers in a workshop blast in Kocaeli.
He called the businesses to fulfill their responsibilities to prevent any work accidents. “As the state, we are mobilizing every resource at our disposal to ensure that our working brothers and sisters can do their jobs safely, comfortably and with peace of mind. If even a single worker is harmed, whether due to negligence, carelessness or, worse, the pursuit of profit, every one of us, especially our employers, has responsibility. We will ensure that every necessary measure is taken, and we will never leave matters concerning human life to chance,” he said.
