Turkey able to use 143.5 million euros of agricultural grants until 2016

Around 143.5 million euros of grants will be available for Turkey until the end of 2016 in the framework of the EU's Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance for Rural Development (IPARD) program, said Turkish EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Volkan Bozk?r.

IPARD is the rural development section of the EU's Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA).

"The EU allocated 4.79 billion euros of grants to Turkey within the framework of the IPA from 2007 to 2013 and some 854 million euros of these grants were used in the IPARD program," Bozk?r said at the launch of the Ankara-based IPARD projects yesterday.

He noted the grant contracts have been signed for a total of 7,909 projects worth around 3.8 billion Turkish Liras in the framework of the IPARD program so far, adding that around 2.2 billion liras of grants are predicted to be secured for these projects.

"These projects make great contributions in boosting the social, economic and ecological welfare of the rural areas and maintaining sustainable development in Turkey," he said.

Bela Szombati, the Head of Delegation of the EU to Turkey, said the instrument represents a very solid example of EU-Turkish cooperation.

"We firmly believe that the support provided will contribute to the alignment of the Turkish agriculture sector to that of the EU and, in a broader sense, Turkey's EU integration," Szombati added.