Farmers stage ‘shock’ protest
THE Cyprus Turkish Farmers Union (KTÇB) held a “shock” protest on Tuesday against the government’s “failure to provide any solutions for the last two months” to their “growing woes”.
Farmers, unhappy over the amount of money set aside by the government for agriculture in this year’s Budget, drove their tractors to the Agriculture and Natural Resources Ministry to make their voices heard.
As a precaution, police closed the road in front of the ministry building so the tractors could not enter its grounds, but 20 tractors drove onto the pavement and also up to the gates of the Prime Ministry.
Tensions escalated when Prime Minister Ersan Saner reportedly failed to turn up for a scheduled meeting with KTÇB leaders. Some threatened to smash through the Prime Ministry gates with their tractors in order to see the PM.
Protesters chanted slogans such as “We have no strength left to endure” and “Hear our voices” but calmed down following the eventual arrival of Mr Saner.
After meeting the PM, the farmers took their protest to Parliament to meet Speaker Önder Sennaroğlu and main opposition Republican Turkish Party leader Tufan Erhürman.
KTÇB president Hüseyin Çavuş Kelle said that in addition to the issues caused by the pandemic, farmers have been facing a severe drought.
He explained that their “input costs” have increased by “80 per cent” and that there is “no sustainable agricultural policy”.
Mr Kelle said that while the South Cyprus government pays its farmers 70 euros per dönüm of potatoes produced, potato producers in the TRNC receive only 150 TL per dönüm. Support payments for fuel have not been revised since 2014, he added. Mr Kelle stressed that the KTÇB’s aim is to increase employment in rural areas.
Mr Kelle said that the Council of Ministers had decided to keep direct income support (DGD) payments for farmers in 2021 at the same rate as in 2020, a move he said was “unsustainable” and “unacceptable”.
Mr Kelle continued that farmers are to receive the support payments with a
seven-month delay and that the TRNC’s economic protocol with Turkey, signed earlier this year, was to provide 40 million TL for agriculture and an additional 30 million TL in support payments, but that so far they had received “nothing”.
PM Saner pointed out that the 2020 DGD balance of 27 million TL was paid to the banks yesterday and that there is “no remaining payment to be made”.
He said the country is experiencing a “very serious crisis” and that, compared to two years ago, the state’s revenue had decreased by 30 percent.
“We look at the revenue and expenses reports when trying to make improvements to all sectors,” he stressed.
Mr Saner stated that the protocol signed with Turkey has “not taken effect yet” which is why the extra 70 million TL of funds has yet to be released.
Reading out a press statement following his meeting with the PM, Mr Kelle said that farmers’ protests will continue.
“We want all the stakeholders to sit down with us. We requested that the budget be revised. We absolutely will not accept the current support programme.
“If they don’t want the protests to continue, then they need to come up with a solution. Mr Saner agreed and said that he would inform the stakeholders of their requests in writing.”
Mr Sennaroğlu, a former agriculture minister, said following his meeting with KTÇB officials: “I acknowledge your struggle. . . The agriculture sector always faces issues. We worked to fix these problems when I was minister.
“The agricultural support payments in the budget cannot be increased. Actually this should increase based on the previous year’s inflation rate, but when we look at the current DGD figures they are absurd. I say this in front of the press . . . The government should take this issue seriously. The DGD has lost its meaning.”