People shop for the new year at a historical shopping district in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 22, 2022. (Photo by Unal Cam/Xinhua)
by Zeynep Cermen
ISTANBUL, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- With rising living costs, Turks are removing the dishes from the New Year's Eve tables that they once used to set up fully fledged.
The New Year's meals have an exceptional place for Turks, who see it as an opportunity for family, relatives, and friends to get together.
Preparations and shopping start days in advance. Dried nuts and fruits of all sorts, various appetizers, olive oil dishes, cooked meat or chicken with rice, sausage, salami, and desserts are among the indispensable items on the table in the past.
"These are now just dreams," lamented Selma Nur, a 57-year-old retired paramedic, as she walked around in Istanbul's Eminonu neighborhood filled with affordable shops.
A kilo of mincemeat is around 150 Turkish liras (8 U.S. dollars), a whole chicken is around 50-60 Turkish liras, and the price of a kilo of coil sausage goes up to 370 liras.
"I have checked the prices of dried nuts and fruits. They are all skyrocketing. One hundred grams would not be enough. We don't invite neighbors anymore but if they come, you would need at least half a kilo," Nur told Xinhua.
"Therefore, our New Year's Eve table will now be an ordinary one like every evening."
Selcuk Kaya, 36, has been running a dried nuts and fruits shop in Eminonu for 14 years. He told Xinhua that the prices of his products have at least doubled since last year, and the sales had dropped by half compared to the same season last year.
In Kaya's view, setting a New Year's Eve table costs at least 400 liras, if only a main course and a dessert were served, and exclude all sorts of dried nuts and fruits, appetizers, and boozes.
To ease citizens' financial burden, the Turkish government increased the minimum wage to 8,500 liras (455 dollars) with a 55 percent hike to be effective as of the beginning of 2023.
But Kaya did not expect the measure to relieve much his financial burdens.
"When the minimum wage was 5,500 liras, I paid 3,500 liras in rent. My rent has increased to 5,500 liras soon after the latest minimum wage hike to 8,500," Kaya said.
Türkiye has been experiencing severe economic troubles with high inflation and the depreciation of the Turkish lira against the U.S. dollar.
In November, the country's inflation stood at 84.39 percent, but the actual cost of living experienced by local people are even higher as the prices of many products are at least doubled since last year.
The national currency lost nearly 70 percent of its value against the greenback since the start of this year. One dollar now stands at 18.68 liras. ■
People shop for the new year at a historical shopping district in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 22, 2022. (Photo by Unal Cam/Xinhua)
People line up to shop for the new year at a confectioner in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 22, 2022. (Photo by Unal Cam/Xinhua)
People shop for the new year at a confectioner in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 22, 2022. (Photo by Unal Cam/Xinhua)
People shop for the new year at a confectioner in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 22, 2022. (Photo by Unal Cam/Xinhua)
People shop for the new year at a confectioner in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 22, 2022. (Photo by Unal Cam/Xinhua)
People shop for the new year at a historical shopping district in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 22, 2022. (Photo by Unal Cam/Xinhua)
