Those hardest hit are the same Turks who benefited from years of Erdogan's welfare policies that helped to sharply reduce income inequalities. That would effectively wipe out the successes of Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party (AKP) and could test his staunchest voter base at the next general election set for 2023. Representatives of the presidency and the finance ministry, which administers the aid, did not immediately respond to questions about rising poverty. "These are not sustainable policies," said Guncavdi, an economist at Istanbul Technical University who co-authored the study predicting a jump in poverty. The bank, however, predicts that the poverty rate will rise less than forecast in the Turkish study, to about 12% from 10%, contained in part by the state aid.

Source: The Star September 10, 2020 08:48 UTC