Diesel price tops 100 TL per liter for first time in Turkey

Diesel prices in Turkey surpassed 100 Turkish lira per liter for the first time on September 17 after a second sharp increase in three days. The liter price rose by roughly 4.62–4.68 lira at midnight, following a 6.62 lira hike on September 15 that had already lifted diesel to around 96–97 lira in major cities.

In Istanbul’s Kadıköy district diesel sold for 100.20 lira, in Ankara for 101.50 lira, in Izmir for 101.80 lira, and in Erzincan, Isparta and Uşak above 102 lira. Gasoline stood near 81–82 lira and autogas at 33–34 lira. The government’s price-smoothing mechanism, known as eşel mobil, failed to absorb the shock.

““Fiyatlar boş vitese atılmış araba gibi kendiliğinden hızlanıp gidiyor. Ücretlerde ise el freni çekilmiş araba gibi.””

Industry sources cite a cascade of supply-side pressures: escalating tensions in the Hormuz Strait, Saudi Arabia’s cancellation of September crude shipments to Europe, and Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Global benchmark prices and the lira’s depreciation passed through to pump prices despite the smoothing fund.

An additional 7.2 lira per liter — 6 lira in special consumption tax (ÖTV) and 1.2 lira in VAT — is scheduled to take effect on October 1, which would push diesel well above 107 lira. The 200 lira banknote, Turkey’s largest denomination, now buys less than two liters of diesel.

Farmers, truckers and consumers warned the increases will cascade into food, logistics and household budgets. In Ankara a retiree said a single night’s hike erased five percent of his pension; in Isparta motorists found station displays unable to show three-digit prices.