President announces discount in meat sales

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that the government will initiate a new discount in sales of meat to curb the high prices in the market.

“We will start selling cattle with a 30-35 percent discount. This will also align those who upset the balance of the markets,” Erdoğan said on Aug. 11 at the opening ceremony of 34 hydroelectric power plants built by the State Hydraulic Works.

The president stated that he gave instructions to Agricultural Credit Cooperatives. “From now on, we have started a 25 percent discount on sheep and lamb meat. I also spoke with the President of the Agricultural Credit Cooperative this morning. We will also start the sale of cattle with a 30-35 percent discount,” he said.

Erdoğan said the government has added 34 new facilities to the country’s hydroelectric power. “With the cooperation of the public-private sector, our 34 hydroelectric power plants have an annual energy production capacity of 2.3 billion kilowatt-hours,” he said noting that these power plants will provide an annual economic benefit of 2.7 billion Turkish Liras to the country.

“We are proud of having brought 605 new hydroelectric power plants to our country in the last 20 years, together with the ones we will inaugurate today. I have to remind you that this number was only 125 before us. Our total number of dams has reached 930. We no longer experience thirst, even in the driest seasons,” Erdoğan noted.

The dams built for hydroelectric power plants offer many additional opportunities from irrigation to fishery, the president emphasized. The issue of allocating the money, which stays inside the country thanks to the generation of electricity from water, to critically important development investments is just as important as other issues for such countries as Türkiye, he stated.

In addition to the public organization responsible for these investments, the government also directed the private sector to the construction of hydroelectric power plants, Erdoğan said noting that Türkiye provided high-capacity hydroelectric power plants.

The government has taken a historic step to mobilize the hydroelectric potential faster, and increased the hydroelectric production capacity of the country by 2.5 times to 110 billion kilowatt-hours, the president said.

Debates on climate change increase the importance of renewable and green energy resources and water resources are the leading means of native and renewable energy generation in Türkiye, he said.

“The characteristics of our geography offer us significant opportunities in this regard. Generating electricity from water stands out since it doesn’t cause air pollution, nor reduce the amount of water that is used or degenerate its quality,” Erdoğan stated.