Following Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's recent complaint that MPs from the Parliament "are in a difficult situation" regarding personal finances, it was revealed yesterday on television by Justice and Development (AKP) Party Co-Deputy Mir Mehmet Dengir Firat that "..Up to 180 of the MPs credit cards have been repossessed by banks due to unpaid debts."

It was also revealed that the financial struggles of the MPs in question have come up for discussion from time to time in meetings at the Prime Ministerial Offices in Ankara.

The exact number of MPs who have had their credit cards repossessed is reportedly at 186, and the debt figures in many cases are as high as $35,000. AKP Deputy Bulent Gedikli maintains that the wages awarded to the Turkish MPs is not high enough to allow them to do their jobs properly.