Farmers to take to streets unless current policies revised, association warns

Farmers may soon hit the streets unless the sector's deep problems are resolved, a leading association has warned, adding that the agricultural sector has become a scapegoat in explaining why the inflation rate is so high. 

The head of the Turkish Union of Agricultural Chambers (TZOB), Şemsi Bayraktar, harshly reacted to a number of policies which he said have been putting huge pressure on farmers.

"Food prices have been accused of being the main reason behind the skyrocketing inflation rate. While their share is nearly 3 percent, what is behind the remaining 8 percent? Why should, for instance, the impact of the transportation costs not be voiced? Nobody is talking about this," he said at a press meeting in Ankara on July 31.

Turkish inflation cooled for the second straight month in June, showed the data in early July, as a drop in food prices led to a lower-than-expected 10.9 percent increase in annual consumer prices.

The data marked a further fall from the 8.5-year peak of the 11.87 percent hit in April.

The government cut customs taxes late in June on meat and a number of grains that have a direct or indirect impact on the prices of red meat, white meat, bread and egg, including wheat and corn, in a bid to ease the rising food prices amid the reaction from farmers. 

The government also defined customs-free import quotas for grains and meat to the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) and the Meat and Milk Board (ESK) on July 29.

"People who feed others are not praised in this country. I am saying this with deep sorrow. Unless there is a change in this tendency, I am warning that we will hit the streets," Bayraktar said, adding that one policy hitting farmers was following another.

"Amid such wrong...