Voices of discontent spread in Turkey as energy prices surge

Medical workers take part in a protest against poor wages and harsh working conditions, in Diyarbakir, Turkey, February 8, 2022. The placard reads, "We are burned out!". REUTERS/Dilara Senkaya

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Shopkeepers, city councils and a religious community group spoke out over surging energy bills in Turkey on Tuesday, while doctors held a one-day strike over working conditions as a wave of inflation-fuelled discontent spread across the country.

Inflation leaped to near 50% in January, raising the cost of living for Turks already struggling to make ends meet after a currency crash in December sparked by President Tayyip Erdogan's unorthodox low interest rates policy.