Farmer's crisis deepens: 111 tractors put up for foreclosure sale in 3 months

CHP's Ömer Fethi Gürer shared striking data regarding the crisis in agriculture. Emphasizing that farmers are facing the risk of losing their means of production due to debt, Gürer said the following: 

"The number of farmers registered in the Farmer Registration System in our country is 2 million 300 thousand. In contrast, the number of farmers who own tractors is 1 million 600 thousand. If we exclude public institutions, there are around 1 million 300 thousand tractors used by our farmers. 2024 was a dark year for our farmers. Our farmers could not pay their debts. When they could not pay, tractors began to be put up for sale through foreclosure. While the number of tractors put up for sale by enforcement offices through tender in January 2025 was 27, this figure rose to 47 in February. In March, 37 more tractors were put up for sale. If our farmers do not have tractors, they will struggle to produce.

With a law enacted during the Mustafa Kemal Atatürk era, equipment belonging to farmers could not be seized through foreclosure. However, in recent years, with methods found by bank lawyers, tractors have also started to be put up for sale through foreclosure. Currently, the credit debt of farmers to banks is 868 billion liras. The fact that the average age of tractors in Turkey increased from 22.9 in 2015 to 24.5 at the end of 2024, according to TUIK data, shows the existence of aging in tractors.

'PROBLEMS IN FOOD SUPPLY MAY ALSO INCREASE'

I have submitted a legislative proposal to the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey so that farmers' tractors are not foreclosed upon and they can remain in production. According to this proposal, tractors should not be seized, so the farmer can stay in production, sow their field, and pay their debt. You took their tractor, you sold their field; how will this farmer pay their debt? The situation has reached the point where the tractors of farmers with agricultural problems are being sold through foreclosure. Those who govern the country ignore the situation agriculture is in. If there is no production, problems in food supply may increase in the future. While we have a supply deficit in 21 products, let us not also have the tractors that enable our farmers' production sold through foreclosure."

Gürer listed some of the provinces and districts where tractors put up for tender for foreclosure sale are located as follows:

"Kocaeli, Bursa, Antalya, Niğde, Aydın, Aksaray, Çorum, Sakarya, Uşak, Bilecik, Burdur, Kırşehir, Erzurum, Edirne, Nevşehir, Düzce provinces, as well as the districts of Mengen, Gönen (Balıkesir), Alaşehir, Ödemiş, Ayvalık, Gümüşhacıköy, Akhisar, Turgutlu, Bünyan, Ezine, Mucur, Nizip, Polatlı, Mustafakemalpaşa, Zara, Zile, Soma, Dikili, Manyas, Çeşme, Ereğli (Konya), Silivri, Çine, Gediz, Kaş, Erbaa, Karacabey, Cihanbeyli, Savaştepe, Bodrum, Çivril, Bozdoğan, Kadirli, Eğirdir, Edremit, Yerköy, Ünye, Lapseki, Nusaybin, Keşan, Dinar, Sandıklı and Simav."