Opposition MP questions why domestic meat prices in Turkey skyrocketed

Duvar English

A lawmaker from Turkey's main opposition presented a parliamentary question to the Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, inquiring about domestic meat prices that have skyrocketed during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Ömer Fethi Gürer also criticized the distribution of profits within the meat supply chain, noting that farmers haven't been making profits that are proportional to the recent price surges.

"The fact that producers aren't receiving profits, and that consumers are suffering shows that the mediators make the most out of production," Gürer said in parliament.

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The lawmaker noted that high input costs and the difficulty of selling meat contribute to high prices, and said that the government should intervene to lower prices.

"It's the ministry's duty to put a price cap on input prices, to ensure that the supply chain is working and to keep the final price low," the deputy said.

Gürer said that Turkey's Meat and Fish Institution should adjust market supply to lower prices effectively.

In his written parliamentary question, Gürer asked whether it was normal for one kilo of meat to cost as high as 100 Turkish Liras, whether the Meat and Fish Institution was selling meat to the market, why prices were increasing despite sufficient supply and whether the ministry would work to lower the price of animal feed.

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