Gültekin Uysal Criticizes Livestock Policies: "Meat is Cheaper Even in Syria Than in Turkey"

Regional Disparity in Meat Prices Democrat Party Chairman Gültekin Uysal stated that the root of Turkey's livestock problems lies in flawed economic and management policies.
Pointing out that beef prices in Turkey have reached exorbitant levels compared to neighboring countries, Uysal noted that prices are currently hovering around the $21-22 per kilogram range.
Uysal emphasized that prices in Bulgaria, Greece, Iraq, Iran, and Georgia are significantly lower than in Turkey.
"What is even more striking is that even in Syria, which has been experiencing a civil war for 15 years, beef is sold at approximately half the price of Turkey.
This situation shows that the issue is a managerial failure rather than a matter of geography or security," he said.
The Trap of Feed Costs and Foreign Dependency Highlighting that the cost structure in the livestock sector has become unsustainable, Uysal stated that feed expenses account for 65-70% of total costs.
He noted that Turkey is dependent on foreign sources for feed raw materials, explaining that insufficient production of basic inputs such as corn, soybean meal, and barley leads to massive import figures every year.
Arguing that increasing the number of livestock without reducing costs will not provide a permanent solution, Uysal warned: "Under these conditions, distributing animals to producers does not solve the problem; it only increases the number of loss-making enterprises.
As long as feed costs are not reduced, every step taken will bring bankruptcies." Structural Reform Essential for Sustainable Production Uysal claimed that current support packages are a repetition of past mistakes and argued that suppressing the market through imports has decimated local production.
Emphasizing that domestic production must be the foundation for a solution, Uysal stated that the production of forage crops must be increased, input costs must be lowered, and imports should become the exception rather than the rule.
Uysal concluded by stating that the state's duty is to produce predictable and permanent policies in line with economic realities, rather than daily interventions.