Ömer Bolat's "Afghan shepherd" statement sparked controversy! The Ministry of Trade has made a statement.

Some products have seen a significant increase in price from the field to the table, causing reactions. Speaking about the high prices in the market, Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat emphasized that there is a shortage of labor in the agricultural sector, not products.

NOTABLE WORDS FROM MINISTER BOLAT

Especially the high price of lemons recently is burning a hole in the citizens' pockets. Those who paid 30 liras for lemons last week are surprised to pay 100 liras today. According to the data announced by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, the price of lemons in Istanbul increased by 56.64% in June. Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat, speaking to Sabah Newspaper columnist Melih Altınok, stated that the price is exorbitant and will return to normal in August.

"IF 25 THOUSAND AFGHAN SHEPHERDS LEAVE, AGRICULTURE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY WILL NOT REMAIN"

The statement made by Minister Bolat in the interview, "There are so many products that farmers cannot find enough people to collect them. There is a serious shortage of labor. This gap cannot be filled even with foreign workers. For example, if 25 thousand Afghan shepherds leave today, agriculture and animal husbandry will not remain," sparked a major controversy.

STATEMENT FROM THE MINISTRY OF TRADE

In response to the reactions, the Ministry of Trade also made a written statement on the issue. In the ministry's statement, it is observed that "the words of our esteemed Minister of Trade, emphasizing the inability to collect lemons due to labor shortage, especially in agriculture and animal husbandry, were distorted and served operationally through bot accounts on social media 15 hours after being published in the newspaper."

In our Eastern and Southeastern regions, the impact of terrorism has been eliminated thanks to the determined struggle of our security forces, and the regional economy has been revitalized with agriculture and animal husbandry. Those engaged in livestock activities, especially in our Eastern regions, frequently express that they need shepherds and cannot find employees, and therefore fill this gap only with Afghan shepherds. This information is also expressed in the statement of our esteemed Minister. It is emphasized that this situation affects the market. It is a completely sociological observation related to the market mechanism, and the sentence containing the observations about shepherd employment is deliberately distorted.

Those who try to cover up the efforts made day and night for the welfare and well-being of our country and our people by distorting words and taking them out of context are in vain. Our esteemed Minister of Trade, together with the official and private sector delegation accompanying him, will start and conduct high-level Turkey-EU trade dialogue meetings in Brussels this morning and in the afternoon with the Vice President of the European Commission and Commission officials as the result of a year-long effort and work."