ISTANBUL: Under a heavy winter sky, the grimly silent queue of people stretches around the corner from Bayram Duman’s kiosk, which offers discount bread for Istanbulites hurt by Turkey’s economic malaise.

Turkey’s cultural and historic capital has been offering cheaper bread for the poor at “Halk Ekmek” (“People’s Bread”) shops since the 1978.

But with prices soaring on everyday items as Turkey battles one of its gravest economic crises in decades, Duman says the queues are especially long this year.

“The prices have risen significantly at the bakeries. People keep coming,” the 50-year-old says.

The queues are a worrying sight for Turkey’s veteran President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is trying to fight inflation by slashing interest rates.