Turkey President Erdoğan’s protection detail spends 1.98 billion TL in first half of 2026

The Presidential Protection Directorate, part of Turkey’s Ministry of Interior, recorded expenses of 1 billion 983 million Turkish lira (TL) for the president’s security detail covering the first six months of 2026. The spending equals the monthly pension of roughly 84,200 low‑earning retirees.

Annual protection costs have risen sharply: 2020 – 263.1 m TL; 2021 – 306 m TL; 2022 – 526.1 m TL; 2023 – 1.077 b TL; 2024 – 2.291 b TL; 2025 – 2.932 b TL; and the first half of 2026 – 1.983 b TL. The budget outstrips the combined expenditures of several security branches, including intelligence, counter‑terrorism, cyber‑crime, narcotics and organized‑crime units.