Suicide rate in Turkey sharply increasing, says opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)

ANKARA — The Turkish state is experiencing a stifling economic crisis that has resulted in a rise in unemployment rates and an increase in suicides, according to official reports and statistics.

A report of the opposition Republican People’s Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, CHP) revealed that there were 60,000 suicides over the last 19 years of rule by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP).

This report comes three months after another report revealed that the suicide rate increased in the country by 38% between 2017 and 2019, largely due to the dire economic conditions in Turkey.

CHP Deputy Tekin Bingöl indicated that 232 people committed suicide in 2017 for economic reasons, with the number rising to 312 in 2019.

The report indicated that the collapse of the Turkish Lira against the U.S. Dollar contributed significantly to the high rates of suicide.

When suicides increased in 2017, the Turkish Statistical Institute removed suicide data from its report for that year.

Other reports indicated that the arbitrary crackdowns carried out by the Turkish regime following the coup attempt in 2016 were one of the reasons that led to the increase in suicides in Turkey.