CHP MP reveals the truth: Köfteci Yusuf has the most!

CHP Gaziantep Deputy Hasan Öztürkmen stated that the ship carrying 8,912 head of cattle brought from Brazil docked at the Port of İskenderun on February 20, adding, "We have obtained the list showing which companies received how many of the imported animals. Köfteci Yusuf is at the top of the list."

Öztürkmen said, "In 3rd and 4th place are the companies that provide meat supplies to Burger King and McDonald's. If this meat were offered directly to the public, our people could buy meat for at most 260-280 TL." CHP Gaziantep Deputy Hasan Öztürkmen said that "meat barons are getting rich on the backs of citizens."

"DISTRIBUTED AMONG CERTAIN LARGE COMPANIES"

Öztürkmen made the following statement:

-For months, we have been explaining the profiteering occurring in the meat and live animal imports carried out by the state. We are declaring that the meat that should be reaching the citizens' tables is being distributed among certain large companies, and we are calling on the authorities to stop this corrupt cycle.

"WE WILL REVEAL THE NEW SCANDAL WITH DOCUMENTATION"

-However, those in power are turning a blind eye and a deaf ear. We will reveal a new scandal on this issue with documentation. We learned through an article by journalist Sadettin İnan that the ship carrying 8,912 head of cattle imported from Brazil by the Meat and Milk Board (ESK) docked at the Port of İskenderun on February 20.

"WE HAVE REACHED THE LIST OF COMPANIES THAT RECEIVED IMPORTED ANIMALS"

-As we examined this latest batch of live animal imports, the scale of the scandal emerged. Because we have reached the list of companies that received the imported animals.

"KÖFTECİ YUSUF IS AT THE TOP OF THE LIST"

-Köfteci Yusuf is at the top of the list with 400 head of cattle. In 3rd place with 320 animals is EKUR A.Ş., one of the subsidiaries of TAB Gıda, which houses Burger King. Immediately following, the 4th buyer is the Namet firm with 240 head of cattle. Namet, which was fined 72 million TL last year by the Competition Board on charges of disrupting market balance, is also the meat supplier for McDonald's.

-The sales price per kilogram of the live animals distributed to these firms is only 175 Turkish Liras. If the AKP government offered the cheap meat it imported through the Meat and Milk Board directly for sale, citizens could buy meat for at most 260-280 TL. After all, didn't they start meat imports with the propaganda that 'citizens will eat cheap meat'? Then why is the cheap imported meat, brought in by spending billions of liras, going into the coffers of private companies instead of the citizens' kitchens? Why is the cheap meat going to Köfteci Yusuf and the suppliers of Burger King and McDonald's instead of the citizens?

-On the other hand, the government, which has collapsed our local producers and undermined domestic production through meat imports, is filling the pockets of foreign farmers with billions of liras in resources. However, if the massive money spent on imports were given as support to Turkish farmers and provided as cheap feed opportunities, both domestic production would increase and citizens would have access to cheap meat.

"OUR CITIZENS CANNOT WALK PAST A BUTCHER SHOP"

-As can be seen, the winners in the meat and live animal imports carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry are certain selected large firms and foreign farmers. Turkish producers, meanwhile, are at the point of collapse. Our citizens cannot even walk past a butcher shop. They are waiting in queues for cheap meat in the cold of this winter. Just recently, the pitiful state of our citizens waiting in line for hours at -5 degrees in Erzurum was reflected in the press. We will not let go of this major profiteering through imported meat.''