State Production Farms and Inflation, or the High Cost of Living...

Goods and services are scarce, the population is large. Needs are high. Demand is high. The food, beverages, clothing, fuel, and other goods entering the market are scarce. There are few sellers and many buyers. Consequently, prices are rising.

In other words, production is low. The system cannot produce the goods that the citizens of Turkey need.

To increase production—that is, to lower prices and begin a period of affordability—we must start with agriculture and animal husbandry. So, how do we start? By establishing hundreds of state production farms... The solution to increasing production in agriculture and animal husbandry is state production farms.

Our citizens must form a very strong public opinion for the re-establishment of state production farms. Do not applaud hollow, abstract concepts and promises such as “We will develop both our agriculture and our industry.” Otherwise, you will not be able to escape the bloodsucking of the wealthy class and profiteering, collaborative politicians and bureaucrats. The solution is organized struggle for a purpose.

OUR TREASURES WE DO NOT VALUE: STATE PRODUCTION FARMS

We know more or less why State Production Farms were established, but very few of us know the interesting origin stories of these farms.

“It is the Atatürk Forest Farm, which politicians never tire of dividing, fragmenting, and opening up to construction. The founding story of the Atatürk Forest Farm (and many other state production farms) is a true lesson. I hope this story allows us to learn a lesson and, at the same time, understand Atatürk better.” Ali Osman MOLA”

A story of labor and sacrifice!

(The text below is taken from the Atatürk Forest Farm website.)

The year is 1925... Two years after the proclamation of the Republic... These were the years when Atatürk and his friends, who achieved the impossible, rebuilt a country from top to bottom; from education to agriculture, from art to science... (...)

The Pasha invites many local and foreign agricultural experts to the mansion and orders them to find a location, stating that he wants to establish a large farm right next to Ankara. The experts are worried. Why? Let us learn from the mouth of an expert who was on the committee:

‘We did not see the need to wander around for a long time or look for other natural features around Ankara for the farm site. The reason was simple: A medieval city in the middle of a barren steppe... No trees, no water, nothing. How could prepared and suitable places be found at such a point!’

The experts continue their research and examine the current farm site, but they evaluate it as a place where ‘nature has never been generous.’ In fact, Schmit, one of the experts from the Ministry of Agriculture, assesses it by saying, ‘This is such an undertaking that in these unfavorable conditions, either patience or money will run out.’

The examinations end and they present the result to the Great Leader. Atatürk points with his hands to the place where the farm is today and asks:

‘Have you toured this place?’

The experts express their opinion that ‘this place does not possess any of the qualities necessary for establishing a farm and that they are facing a swampy, barren, and poor place.’

Here is Atatürk’s answer:

‘This is exactly how the place you want should be. On the edge of Ankara, both swampy, barren, and a bad place. If we do not reclaim this, who will come and reclaim it?’

Thus, the work to establish the farm begins. In the first stage, work is carried out on the land belonging to Faika Hanım, the wife of the late Abidin Pasha. Atatürk’s valuation of these unproductive lands above their worth and his beginning to pay with his own resources leads to the expansion of the farm land in a short time. With these new sales, the Etimesgut, Balgat, Çakırlar, Güvercinlik, Macun, Tahar, and Yağmur Baba farms are also added to the land, reaching a scale of 55 thousand 538 decares.

Then the continuation comes. At different times, in different places, and under different names, but for the same purposes, numerous farms are established.

The purpose of the establishment of State Production Farms is “to produce seeds, breeding stock, and raw materials for agriculture and agriculture-based industry, and to protect genetic resources.”

Why were they spread to all four corners of the country? Because there are significant geographical and climatic differences between our regions. Therefore, improvement studies and trials need to be conducted in suitable environments.

Animal husbandry: breeding and fattening cows; breeding sheep; breeding horses and horse breeding; Akbaş and Kangal breed dog breeding; to protect its species, Asian gazelle breeding.

Plants: wheat, barley, silage corn, grain corn, vetch, sainfoin, alfalfa, meadow, potatoes, hybrid sunflower, oil sunflower, soy, lentils, chickpeas, triticale, citrus (especially lemon, orange, grapefruit, and mandarin), fruit (especially apricot, apple, pear, peach, sour cherry, cherry, pomegranate, olive), pistachio and almond, vegetables...

Especially in plant production, new species can be added according to the needs of the time.

Now let us think: We have 3 million 606 thousand decares of land established decades ago just to produce seeds, breeding stock, raw materials, and to protect genetic resources, and we import approximately 16.5 billion dollars worth of agricultural products annually for seeds, breeding stock, raw materials, genetic resources, and consumption. This figure does not include the amount of energy we use in agriculture, the pesticides and fertilizers used in plant and animal farming. Perhaps it does not even include embryos. When we include these, we can easily say that our agriculture is not in surplus, but in deficit.

Where have we come from and where are we now?

Imagine a state that has been in decline for about 220 years; its economy has shrunk, it has lost wars and territory, its social structure has deteriorated... Finally, it received the heaviest blow by losing the First World War. Then, with a superhuman struggle, we saved our current homeland. In these wars, almost all of our educated youth, who were already very few, were martyred. A significant portion of the Anatolian people, about 80 percent of whom were engaged in farming, including the youth, were martyred. There is no money, no knowledge, the workforce has decreased, there is no equipment, our irrigated agriculture is dependent only on rain... The impossibilities are so many...

It was during this process that Atatürk took action both to lead the farmers and to show that the country’s economy was based on agriculture. For the necessary financial resources, approximately 500-600 thousand liras sent from India for aid during the National Struggle were used. A significant portion of the money had been placed under the command of the Western Front Command for some expenses that the treasury could not meet during the Great Offensive. After the victory, approximately 380 thousand liras of this money that was not used was returned to Atatürk by the decision of the Council of Ministers. This money was also used in the establishment of state production farms. (Ali Osman MOLA-December 27, 2020-156 •TÜRKİYAT ARAŞTIRMALARI DERGİSİ)

Oh, dear liberals! Oh, lion-hearted Social Democrats! Put your hand on your conscience. Take a look at the facts. Statism has increased production. It is clear that it will increase it now as well. But some of you are religious, some are liberal compradors, some are so-called Atatürkists, some are ethnic separatists... Why should this public vote for you? When statism is mentioned, you jump as if a red-hot iron has touched your skin! Whose side are you on? It is certain that you are not on the side of the people. It is also certain that you are on the side of capital, capitalism, and money. Let’s wait and see what happens...