In a major development, Turkish President Erdogan has removed the minimum age requirement for retirement, enabling over 2 million workers to retire immediately. The decision has significant implications for the country’s labor market, and has been announced just months before a crucial election.

The ruling AK Party has recently taken other steps aimed at increasing voter support, such as raising the minimum wage. These efforts come in response to challenges including inflation, the falling value of the lira, and a decline in living standards.

Under the new policy, those who began working prior to September 1999 and have completed a specified number of years of work registered with the social security system will be able to retire. The previous retirement age was 58 for women and 60 for men.

• 2.25 million workers in Turkey are now eligible for immediate retirement due to the removal of the minimum age requirement.
• The new system is expected to cost over 100 billion lira ($5.35 billion).
• There are currently 13.9 million pensioners in Turkey.

Labor groups had been advocating for the minimum age requirement to be replaced with a requirement to complete a certain number of work days before retiring. The change implemented by Erdogan is seen by some as a tactic to boost his support ahead of the upcoming election.