Tension over 'documents' regarding Meat and Milk Board General Manager Taylan: IYI Party and AKP deputies clash

A debate erupted between the AKP and the IYI Party over allegations that Meat and Milk Board General Manager Mücahid Taylan's companies in Hungary and Czechia conducted 1 billion liras worth of meat trade with Turkey.

IYI Party Group Deputy Chairman Turhan Çömez addressed the allegations that Meat and Milk Board General Manager Mücahid Taylan was importing meat through a company he is a partner in in Hungary, stating, "While there is an extremely clear provision, the person at the head of our Meat and Milk Board has established companies abroad. Once this is established, no subsequent speculation holds any weight. Because it is clearly and explicitly against the law for Mücahid Taylan to have companies abroad."

Regarding Taylan's statement that he 'did not derive any commercial profit from there' concerning the company in Hungary, Çömez said, "Of course, we did not trust his words. We conducted research in Hungary and learned that Mücahid Taylan has conducted 1 billion liras worth of trade in the last four years. Hungary has exported 4 million kilograms of meat to Turkey in the last three years. We look at the address where Mücahid Taylan established the company; it is an apartment flat and people live there. So, even though it appears to be an inactive company, we are talking about a trade volume of 1 billion liras. The Minister said yesterday that 'there is not a penny of trade between that company and the ministry'."

Showing an invoice belonging to Taylan's company, Çömez stated that the Meat and Milk Board was listed on the invoice. Çömez claimed that meat was being exported from Taylan's company to the Meat and Milk Board. Stating that Taylan had another company established by his inner circle, Çömez said, "This is the company that has exported billions of liras worth of meat to Turkey. There is no contract, no tender."

Çömez stated that Taylan has a company not only in Hungary but also in Czechia, and that meat was sent to Hungary through this company and then brought to Turkey, adding, "Do you see how much of a system built on rent-seeking this is?" Çömez continued, "Meat that costs 7 dollars in Europe is 17 dollars in our country. Why? Because agriculture and livestock in Turkey have been systematically finished off. Livestock farming was systematically collapsed, and the bill for this collapsed livestock industry was loaded onto the backs of this nation. While all this is being done, a terrible mechanism of rent and plunder has been established."

ÇÖMEZ: YOUR ONLY BUSINESS IS THE COURTS ANYWAY

AKP Group Deputy Chairman Muhammet Emin Akbaşoğlu responded to the allegations raised by Çömez, saying, "Regarding the allegations about the Meat and Milk Board, the General Manager at its head has provided explanatory information to the public on this matter. You can also resort to legal channels against these slanders."

Taking the floor again, Çömez said, "I wish Mr. Akbaşoğlu could have said, 'You have shared very important documents, let us look into them.' We are sharing many documents and the law is clear; the man at the head of the Meat and Milk Board cannot be the owner of a company dealing in meat. The man has a company in Hungary, he has a company in Czechia, we are showing the document. There is documentation that the company in Hungary conducted 1 billion liras worth of trade. You say, 'Settle it in court.' Your only business is the courts anyway."

Akbaşoğlu, for his part, stated, "The person who has taken charge of the institution has declared that these are slanders and that he has initiated legal proceedings. You can confront each other before the judiciary."

News Source: 12punto