‘Farmers’ debt has increased by 72 times in AKP rule’

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Republican People's Party (CHP) Adana MP and the Parliamentary Commission on Agriculture, Forestry and Village Affairs Member Ayhan Barut has criticized President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who talked about renting land in other countries.

Addressing the public after the Cabinet meeting yesterday (December 28), Erdoğan said, "Today, 140 countries are making efforts to get prepared for the future by renting land in other places. The most favorable place is the virgin and fertile African soil. The aim in renting land is to meet the needs of not today, but to get prepared for the demands a century later. We, as Turkey, have started to rent land in different places."

Referring to this statement, Barut has said, "Before renting land in other countries, President must first explain how farmers' debt has increased by 72 times from 2.5 billion to over 180 billion since the AKP came to power."

Indicating that there has been an at least 800-900 percent increase in all inputs during the AKP period, ranging from the seeds to fertilizers and diesel fuel, CHP's Barut has stated, "He must first look at the reason why the number of farmers, which was 2 million 800 thousand in 2003, has decreased by 700 thousand and dropped to 2 million 100 thousand."

"We are calling on the ones who zone the agricultural fields for construction and push our farmers into debt. In a first in the Republican history, the agricultural cultivation sites have dropped under 20 million hectares. Why? Because farmers cannot earn anything from what they sow, because our farmers are not supported," Ayhan Barut has protested further.

"First, pay the receivables of our farmers, give sufficient support to agriculture and stand with our producers. Then, you can go and rent a land wherever you want," he has concluded. (DŞ/SD)