Onur Ender ASLAN

The objective of this study is to examine the real state of civil servant salaries in Turkey within the framework of 17 salaries selected between 2003-2022. To this aim, a historical dataset was created and the arithmetic average of these 17 salaries was used to determine the representative civil servant salary. These data are based on the official salary data publicly shared by the Ministry of (Treasury and) Finance of Turkey. The study employed three ways to determine real salaries. Firstly, real salaries were measured within the framework of Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) Consumer Price Index (TÜFE) data and then analyzed compared to the value of USD and 24-carat gold. Additionally, the study examined the distribution of civil servant salaries in the total share of the GDP per capita and minimum wage. Finally, the study compared the relative salaries of civil servants. Based on the results of the quantitative analysis, the findings indicate that civil servant salaries have experienced a real decrease over the last two decades, leading to a decrease in their share of economic growth and a significant change has been observed in the social status of civil servants. The lower and middle ranks of civil servants were proletarianized, whereas professional groups like lawyers and engineers were impoverished on the way to proletarianization. Overall, the study revealed that civil servants, except for the upper-level segment, are no longer middle-class but have become proletarian.