Sencer Solakoğlu reacts to the cancellation of his business certificates

Sencer Solakoğlu, who operates a livestock business in Bursa and is a prominent figure in the CHP, made statements on his social media account regarding the cancellation of his business's "Disease-Free Enterprise Certificate." In his post, Solakoğlu stated that agricultural authorities could not identify any deficiencies, but that the transfer of animals from one barn to another within the same farm was cited as the reason for the cancellation.

Solakoğlu said, "We transferred the animals in the barn I am currently in to the other barn you see right behind me. It is truly meaningless for our certificates to be cancelled due to this transfer made within the same property."

A procedure followed for years was rejected this time

Solakoğlu stated that the practice, which had been deemed appropriate by the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture and Forestry in previous years, was considered 'erroneous' this year. "A practice that has been carried out for years was suddenly labelled as wrong this year. The provincial directorate staff were telling us that tests and blood samples were being taken regularly from all animals and that there was no problem with this procedure. However, this year, the certificates were cancelled by an administrative decision," he said.

Stating that he could not make sense of the cancellation of his certificates, Solakoğlu expressed, "No diseases were found in the animals; the tests came back clean. The only apparent goal is to punish the producer and dissenting views, and to suppress criticism."

The only 'crime' is following instructions

In his statements, Solakoğlu also said that an animal died after being crushed due to the ministry's practices. "When the issue became a topic on the internet, the authorities denied the incident, but everything is documented and real. The provincial directorate tells us how it should be done, and we implement it exactly. They are the ones we deal with," he said. "We have been asked to do it this way for years, and now it is suddenly called wrong. We did exactly what we were told, and that became our crime."

"Problems are increasing with ministers who do not know agriculture"

Stating that the real cause of food inflation in Turkey is poor management, Solakoğlu said, "We are one of the most efficient businesses, but we are being pressured because we have political criticisms. We will continue to tell the truth. The reason for food inflation in Turkey is not external factors, but a lack of knowledge and meritless appointments. The fact that people who do not understand the first thing about agriculture become ministers is the root of this problem."

Solakoğlu noted that when the CHP comes to power, they will support producers and ensure that young people are directed toward agriculture. "Food prices will not fall with these wrong practices. We will increase production and solve the problems with real reforms," he said.