CHP leader criticizes govt’s agricultural policies

ANKARA

The government is not taking necessary measures for the protection of Turkish farmers who are severely suffering from the economic decline, the main opposition leader has said, urging agriculture associations to put pressure on the government to get fresh subsidies.

“In many regions, farmers are no longer farming. Vast farms and fields are left idle. Because they cannot sell their products or they sell them for nothing,” Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu told in a meeting with the farmers in Ankara on Feb. 2.

Agriculture is a strategic sector for all the countries, and in Turkey, he said. “The government, therefore, should pursue policies accordingly. It should lend support to the Turkish farmers.”

The government is importing agricultural products, which the Turkish farmers are already producing here, Kılıçdaroğlu said.

“They are buying cotton from Nigeria. What will happen to our cotton producers? They are importing livestock and many other products. There is no government in the world that is supporting foreign farmers instead of its own farmers.”

“Is there anybody in the government that is concerned of the problems of potato producers? They cannot sell their potatoes even at 50 kurus,” he said.

Article 45 of the Turkish Constitution obliges the government to take all necessary measures so that farmers can maintain the production chain, Kılıçdaroğlu said.

“It also says that the state takes all the measures to reduce the costs in the agriculture field. Isn’t the government aware of the constitution? I call on all the agriculture associations to frame the article 45 of the constitution and hang it on a wall of their premises across the country,” he added.