A local opposition leader in central Anatolian province of Yozgat is facing heavy fines after protesting low potato prices by distributing his harvest for free.
Sadık Erdoğan, head of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) organization in Aydıncık district, unloaded 150 sacks of potatoes from his tractor in the village square of Kazankaya.
A video that circulated on social media yesterday showed him standing in the back of a truck and cutting open several sacks of potatoes, spilling them onto the road.
Erdoğan, a farmer since childhood, said he wanted to draw attention to the financial struggles of potato and onion producers unable to sell their crops even below production cost.
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Further accusations
The Trade Ministry launched an investigation into the protest, Deputy Minister Mahmut Gürcan announced today. The ministry’s internal committee will review the case and could impose administrative fines ranging from 1.4 to 17.2 million liras ( 57,000 to 420,000 US dollars) for “disrupting market balance and free competition” and “creating scarcity in the market.”
Gürcan added that criminal complaints would be filed against Erdoğan for “inciting hatred and enmity” and “insulting the president.”
In a written statement, Erdoğan denied the allegations. “As a farmer from Kazankaya village, I brought potatoes to the square, where surveillance cameras are present, and told people to take them for free,” he said.
“When I returned, out of about 150 sacks, only five or six were left. I set them aside, gathered the empty sacks, and threw them away. Villagers told me the cows would eat the remaining potatoes, so I did not collect them,” he said.
Erdoğan maintained that his actions carried no political motive.
Çiftçi-Sen, a farmers' union, also criticized the ministry's stance in a written statement. “While state institutions should be fining companies and supermarkets that stockpile products in their warehouses and let them rot in order to keep food prices high, they are instead fining producers.
"This sends a message to farmers that ‘whether you produce or not, we will punish you.’ Such policies do not increase agricultural production or improve access to food for the poor; on the contrary, they bring hunger to our doorstep and lead to a food crisis.”
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Challenges in potato sector
The incident comes amid mounting challenges in Turkey’s potato sector with farmers in major production hubs such as Niğde, Nevşehir, and Bitlis having struggled to sell their crops at sustainable prices since earlier this year, according to media reports.
Producers told CHP deputy Ömer Fethi Gürer in February that while the cost of production ranges between 6 and 7 liras per kilogram, potatoes are being sold to traders for about 3 liras, while consumers in large cities pay up to 20 liras in supermarkets.
Gürer, known for his focus on agricultural issues, warned at the time that about 850,000 tons of potatoes stored in warehouses risked spoiling, calling on the Turkish Grain Board (TMO) to intervene. (VK)
