Havva Gümüşkaya
The budget talks of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security at the Parliamentary Planning and Budget Commission began with a protest.
DEM Party and CHP MPs placed photos of those who lost their lives in the perfume warehouse fire in Kocaeli’s Dilovası district on their desks and called on Minister Vedat Işıkhan to resign.
Before the meeting, CHP’s Veli Ağbaba referred to the workers who died in the Dilovası fire, saying, “This is the visible face of informal employment. The workplace is just one building away from the İŞKUR office. A complaint was filed to CİMER. The Labour Minister must resign. He should set an example and go down in political history. In this country, political figures remain shamelessly in office as if nothing happened. We’ve come from an understanding of ‘if a sheep is lost by the Euphrates, I am responsible’ to this utter irresponsibility.”
Calling on Minister Işıkhan to resign, Ağbaba said, “It is not right to discuss the Labour Ministry’s budget today. This is a bloody budget. This budget contains the blood of Nisa and Cansu. The AK Party and its minister are responsible for the workplace homicide in Kocaeli. It is neither moral nor ethical nor conscientious for this budget to be presented by the Minister. We collectively reject it.”
EMEP (Labour Party) İstanbul MP İskender Bayhan said, “We want to see you not offering condolences after workplace killings but taking responsibility.” DEM Party’s Kezban Konukçu turned her back on Minister Işıkhan.
MINISTER SPOKE OF ‘ZERO ACCIDENTS’
Beginning his budget presentation amid resignation calls, Minister Işıkhan provided information about the explosion in Kocaeli. He said seven people had been suspended, adding, “The administrative and judicial processes are continuing simultaneously.”
Addressing occupational health and safety (OHS) efforts, Işıkhan said, “We adopt continuous improvement and effective inspection as our core principles. Our goal is not only to prevent accidents but to instil a culture of zero accidents.”
Speaking on behalf of the CHP group, Deputy Chair responsible for the Labour and Social Security Ministry Gamze Taşcıer referred to the unemployment fund, saying, “Of every 100 lira in the fund, only 33 have gone to the unemployed; the lion’s share has been transferred to employers. The unemployed cannot find jobs, cannot receive support from the fund, and employment does not increase. Is this your understanding of fighting unemployment?” She said resources allocated to the “Occupational Health and Safety Programme” had been reduced and referred to the Dilovası explosion, saying, “A country’s darkest day is when its children die while working. That building was just 200 metres from the İŞKUR office. You watched a murder committed right under your nose. You dismissed bureaucrats, but that’s not enough; you too must resign.”
DEM Party’s Kezban Konukçu reacted, saying, “You’ve turned this country into heaven for yourselves and a handful of capitalists, but into hell for workers. People are burning to death; forget poverty and hunger, they are burning to death.”
COMMISSION TO MEET IN DECEMBER
After Türk-İş and Hak-İş announced they would not participate in the Minimum Wage Determination Commission, Minister Işıkhan stated that the commission would meet in December to discuss the 2026 minimum wage, which millions of workers are waiting for. Recalling that the net minimum wage had been raised to 22,104 lira last term, Işıkhan said, “Thus, we have increased the minimum wage, which was 184 lira in 2002, by 223 percent in real terms. This December, our commission will convene to determine the minimum wage to be applied in 2026. We hope consensus will be reached on a figure acceptable to all.”
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Bakan Işıkhan istifaya çağrıldı: Kanlı bütçe!, published in BirGün newspaper on November 12, 2025.
