Meat turns into a luxury product in Turkey / Rising prices, the most important issue in the election

2023-04-16 09:00:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Meat turns into a luxury product in Turkey / Rising prices, the most important

Many Turks are suffering from rising prices of basic foods such as meat.

As Turkey heads towards elections on May 14, the rising cost of living is one of the main topics of discussion. The Turkish economy has been in crisis for some time, with the country suffering from inflation, currently at 50%.

At least that's what the official figures say. Because according to the Independent Inflation Research Group (ENAG), this figure reaches 112%, indicating that the Turkish authorities are distorting the data. The Turkish lira is losing more and more value against the euro, where the exchange rate today is 1 euro to 21 pounds, while in 2014 it was 1 euro to 2.9 pounds.

When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his AKP party's election platform on Wednesday (12/04), he promised to return inflation to single digits if re-elected, as well as "defeat" food price volatility.

According to a study by the research center DISK-AR, food prices have increased by 1750% in the last 20 years. Erdogan's AKP has been in power for 21 years.

Turkey is fifth on the global list of food inflation, at 69%. Only Lebanon, Zimbabwe, Argentina and Iran are ahead. According to the data of the National Council of Red Meat, minced meat has increased by over 30% in the last month, while last year the increase reached 147%.

For Turks, the crisis does not only mean that it is more difficult to go, for example, on vacation abroad. Many of them are even struggling to afford food, which could influence the voter's decision on May 14.

"The most important issue for the election"
"Food inflation will be the defining issue of the election," says Turkish political scientist Berk Esen of Istanbul's Sabanc? University. "Food inflation is clearly weakening the government. For this reason alone, the government is trying to keep its base united. An important component of the AKP electorate is the lower middle class. And this is directly affected by food inflation," said Essen in an interview with DW.

The average Turkish citizen can no longer buy dairy and meat products. Such products are not accessible to everyone, according to Semsi Bayraktar, president of the Turkish Federation of Geotechnical Chambers. Producers can no longer feed their animals because of the rising price of animal feed, Bayraktar said in an interview with DW. "Due to rising costs and reduced supply, meat prices have increased. "The consumer has difficulty accessing meat and dairy products," says Bayraktar.

During the pandemic, hotels and restaurants were closed. These are places where a lot of meat is consumed. "70% of meat production could not be consumed at that time and these products were sold at very low prices," said Ahmet Yucezan, president of the Meat Producers and Industry Association (ETBIR). Today, tourism and gastronomy are alive again and meat consumption has returned to previous levels. "But now that there is not enough investment, domestic demand cannot be met. That's why prices have risen continuously for six months, says Yucezan, who blames the rise in prices on the government's "wrong policies" and lack of planning during the pandemic.