Turkey Permits Cattle Imports After 10 Years
ISTANBUL - The import of cattle – and long contested topic among Turkey and certain foreign countries – is expected to start soon, according to a spokesperson for the Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.“The partners of the imports are going to be the United States and the permitted European Union countries,” said Mehdi Eker of the Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. He added that the name of the ministry will be changed to ‘Ministry of Food and Agriculture.'
Mehdi Eker spoke to reporters on the transformation that has taken place in the agriculture and husbandry area in a meeting hosted by the head of Dairy and Meat Producers Association, Erdal Bahçivan.
Stating that the problem with the agricultural paradigm in Turkey is that agriculture is left to the peasants Eker said: “We do not have agricultural intellectuals. Therefore, in Turkey the sector is not discussed and the peasant and the farmer are confused. We are going to rename the ministry as Food and Agriculture in order to correct this mistake.”