CHP Bursa Deputy Orhan Sarıbal: Farmers are exhausted, famine is at the door!

CHP Bursa Deputy Orhan Sarıbal was a guest of veteran journalist Tuncay Mollaveisoğlu on 12punto.

In the '12'den' program, Sarıbal made statements regarding the economic difficulties experienced by farmers and the government's agricultural policies. Stating that farmers are unable to sell their harvests, Sarıbal said, “The farmer has clearly demonstrated the great economic hardship they are experiencing and, for the first time, has pointed to the government as the one responsible. Farmers held road-blocking protests with slogans of ‘government resign’.”

THE GOVERNMENT HAS DRIVEN FARMERS AWAY FROM THE VILLAGE

Criticizing the government's agricultural policies, Sarıbal stated, “The government could not control agriculture by driving farmers away from the village and dispossessing them. Farmers are forced to sell their land because they cannot earn money. This system promises to make agriculture sustainable through excessive debt and imports. However, this model has no equivalent in the world.”

AGRICULTURAL POLICY IS WRONG

CHP Bursa Deputy Orhan Sarıbal stated that agricultural policies in Turkey are experiencing problems due to poor planning and incorrect implementation, saying, “The effort to protect domestic producers with products brought from abroad has increased inflation and raised costs. While food prices are falling globally, inflation rates in Turkey have remained high.”

TURKEY DOES NOT EVEN ALLOCATE 2% OF ITS BUDGET TO AGRICULTURE

Stating that the state should be an institution that organizes and manages agriculture, Sarıbal said, “The Republic of Turkey cannot even allocate 2% of its budget as support for agriculture. It is practically destroying the farmer and adding a new nail to their coffin every day.”

Orhan Sarıbal emphasized that consumers should form cooperatives to buy products directly from farmers' unions, adding, “Although the government is the source of the problems, it steps aside and shifts the responsibility to others. The hardships faced by farmers show that while agricultural support has increased 22-fold since 2004, farmers' debts have increased 250-fold.”

THE GOVERNMENT IS PUTTING THE FARMER IN A COFFIN

CHP Bursa Deputy Orhan Sarıbal, criticizing the government's agricultural policies and the economic difficulties faced by farmers, said, "The government is practically putting the farmer in a coffin and driving a new nail in every day, ensuring the farmer remains in an even more difficult situation. They are doing this consciously, and the implemented agricultural policies are a result of Mehmet Şimşek's inflation program."

Sarıbal stated that a large segment of the Republic of Turkey lives on minimum wage and is supported by social assistance, adding, "Approximately 20 million people live on minimum wage, and including their families, this number exceeds 40 million. This mass remains below even the consumption levels of people in African countries."

THE GOVERNMENT IS GENERATING INFLATION IN LINE WITH THE WISHES OF THE GENTLEMAN IN THE PALACE

Orhan Sarıbal criticized the government's inflation policies, saying, "The government is generating inflation in line with the wishes of the gentleman in the palace. Mehmet Şimşek's policies are being tolerated even though they know the votes are melting away, because deviating from Şimşek's program could completely end the government. That is why whatever Mehmet Şimşek says, the government implements it, and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is currently under Şimşek's control."

Drawing attention to farmers' debts, Sarıbal said, "Farmers have a debt of 300 billion TL to feed dealers. They also have debts for medicine, seeds, fertilizer, water, energy, and labor. It is unclear how farmers will survive with these debts."