Government says shopping boycott had no impact

Trade Minister Ömer Bolat has claimed that the nationwide shopping boycott held yesterday at the opposition’s call was ineffective.

“The opposition’s attempts to distract from corruption and bribery investigations and to damage the economy have failed, as our people stood by the national economy, local businesses, and trade,” Bolat said, referring to the corruption-related charges against the İstanbul mayor and dozens of other municipal officials currently in custody.

Referring to data from the Interbank Card Center (BKM), Trade Minister Ömer Bolat stated that card transactions rose from 14 billion liras on Apr 1 to 28 billion liras on Apr 2.

Bolat also noted that spending on Apr 2 exceeded the daily average for the period between Mar 3 and Mar 22. On Wednesdays in the last month, credit card spending ranged between 24.5 billion and 28.9 billion liras (1 US dollar = 38.9 liras).

"These results show that the public has boycotted the boycotters," the minister asserted.

BKM publishes spending data on its website on a monthly basis, and the most recent available figures are from February. The data cited by the minister does not appear on the site, and he has not provided clarification on this point.

Government officials have condemned the boycott as an act of "sabotage" against the national economy. Yesterday, several ministers shared photos of themselves shopping, urging the public to increase their spending in response.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) called for a boycott of pro-government business groups, following the Mar 19 detention of İstanbul Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu. CHP leader Özgür Özel cited mainstream media’s lack of coverage of the mass protests supporting İmamoğlu as the reason for the boycott.

As part of the campaign, the CHP embraced a call from student groups for a one-day “no shopping” action on Apr 2, urging citizens to abstain from all purchases for 24 hours. (VK)