President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the participants at the closing program of the "3rd Turkey Agriculture and Forestry Council" organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry at Beştepe Millet Culture and Congress Center.

Thanking those who contributed to the organization of the Council, Erdoğan said that during the council, which was organized with the theme of "meeting of common sense" after 15 years, extremely productive and comprehensive discussions were held on Turkish agriculture and forestry, and that all stakeholders of the sector freely shared their opinions, criticisms and suggestions for the future. He said he had the opportunity to express himself.
Erdoğan stated that in 21 different working groups, short, medium and long-term strategies have been determined in a wide range from crop production to animal health, from support to food safety, from forest law to fisheries products, and to technological transformation in agriculture.
Pointing out that more than 50 thousand opinions were sent to Turkey's agriculture and forestry and to find solutions to its problems, Erdoğan continued as follows:
"In addition, more than 7 thousand people related to the sector attended the meetings held in 81 provinces. With these features, the 3rd Agriculture and Forestry Council was recorded as the council with the largest participation ever. Every opinion expressed by both the sector representatives and our people on digital platforms during the meeting is above our heads. We are a staff that always gives importance to the culture of consultation and consultation in every issue including our country. The unchangeable rule for us is 'Consult in every job...' We act with the principle of 'Consult one who knows, even if you know a thousand' 

"The Most Important Step To Enlighten Our Future"

Emphasizing that the basic principle of the 3rd Agriculture and Forestry Council is consultation, Erdogan said, "The decisions taken at the Council are the most important step that will enlighten our future, to carry out this work together with our nation, experts, sector representatives and now in this nation's palace, especially in the nation's house. " used the phrase.

President Erdoğan, who thanked everyone who got involved in the issue personally instead of criticizing from afar and shared their opinions frankly for their contributions, continued his words as follows:

"I believe that the decisions taken will guide our agriculture and forestry sector in the next 5 years. Of course, it is important to take decisions, but the main thing is to follow the decisions taken and ensure that they are implemented. Every decision that does not turn into practice or policy, no matter how beautiful, how strong or how stimulating it is. Only in this way can we repay the rights of our farmers, producers and agricultural laborers who extract their sustenance from the soil.
If we want to advance Turkish agriculture and much further, we need to put the council decisions, which we have shaped with a common mind, into practice with a joint effort. Of course, agriculture, as well as animal husbandry, along with all these, I believe that with the steps to be taken in both milk and dairy products and meat and meat products, you are and are giving very serious exams in this sector."

"I Will Follow All Decisions"

Emphasizing that as the President, he will be a close follower of all decisions that will improve Turkish agriculture and strengthen Turkish farmers, Erdoğan said, "I talked to our General Manager of Ziraat Bank in detail the previous evening, and after this meeting, I hope our Ziraat Bank will demonstrate a much more comprehensive and unconventional solidarity with our farmers in loans. "Perhaps it will take such steps in partnership with you." said.

Stating that they no longer want to import animals, President Erdoğan said:

"You already know, along with all these, we have taken very decisive steps in this regard. Hopefully, Anatolia will fulfill its duty in every field as the 'Main'. Our world is going through a huge transformation as a result of the progress in communication and transportation technologies. Many issues such as climate change, obesity, migration, income inequality, drought and global warming, which we did not focus on enough 15-20 years ago, have now become the main agenda items of humanity.
Regardless of their geographical location or level of development, we see that all countries in the world face these problems in some way. Climate change affects not only the developed countries that pollute the world the most, but also all humanity, especially the poor countries in the African continent. We are among the countries affected by these negativities. Nature, which is entrusted to all humanity by Almighty God, is being used and almost plundered more brutally than it has ever been in history, especially by large Western companies.

We are in a frightening period in which fertile agricultural areas are decreasing, water resources are getting scarce, the seas are getting polluted, the climates are changing and weather events are becoming unpredictable. One of the hallmarks of this new era is the increase in the strategic importance and competition of soil, water and agricultural areas. The same struggle for underground resources is being waged today for the control of agricultural lands and water resources," he said.
Stating that they have given special importance to the development of agricultural lands, protection of water resources and strengthening of forest assets since the day they came to power, Erdoğan emphasized that they consider agricultural production as a strategic sector far beyond its economic dimension.

Pointing out that they will continue on their way with the same sensitivity from now on, Erdoğan said:
"We are against all kinds of attempts that will put Turkish agriculture under the control of global agriculture and food companies. Let's prevent the division of our agricultural lands by inheritance together. Look, we have always been trying to do this since we came to power. We want to prevent this. Because especially when we can prevent this fragmentation and division in agriculture, we are all together." We will gain strength as a family and as a nation. Let's support our farmers with all kinds of tools, fertilizers, seeds. Let's ensure that the products are used in the best way. We are behind all of these issues, we stand by them. But we will definitely not crush Turkish agriculture within the profit-oriented wheel of global companies. National in agriculture I would like to underline once again that we are against any kind of project, any kind of transformation that does not give priority to our security, regardless of profit or loss."
Emphasizing that they have introduced Turkey to the firsts in the field of agriculture and livestock, just as the economy, tourism, health and defense have come a long way in the last 17 years, Erdoğan reminded that they have introduced new production and support models in order to save the agricultural sector from years of neglect and lack of foresight.

"The State Doesn't Lie"

Stating that they have given agricultural support to the farmers in the amount of 137.7 billion liras to date, Erdoğan made the following assessments:
"Look, I'm not saying imaginary numbers, I'm saying what we have done. We allocated 54.5 percent of our Ministry's 2020 budget to agricultural supports. In other words, we increased our agricultural supports by 36.7 percent compared to the previous year. Our Agricultural Gross Domestic Product was 37 billion liras in 2018. this figure is also very important, it has reached 213.3 billion liras. Now, from time to time, the head of the main opposition comes out and talks nonsense. Look, I am explaining it again here. My figures are official figures. They are not figures collected from newspaper clippings. The state does not lie. The state tells the truth. , I say this too. We are the seventh in the world and the first in Europe in agricultural output. We are the world leader in hazelnut, cherry, fig, apricot and quince production. We export 1,690 agricultural products to 195 different countries in the world. The rate of meeting the demand of vegetable production is 107 percent. We see that we are self-sufficient for all fruit products, we will see. When we took office, our production could not even meet the domestic demand, but now we have achieved a very high rate of 112 percent. But he does not understand these, he does not show wheat. There is such a situation."
Stating that the export of agricultural products increased from 3.7 billion dollars to 17.7 billion dollars, Erdoğan pointed out that the foreign trade surplus in agriculture reached a serious figure of 4.8 billion dollars.
Expressing that the number of technological greenhouses where soilless agriculture is carried out has increased to 1,413, Erdoğan said that 90 percent of the products produced in modern greenhouses are exported.

"The Seed Production Amount from 145 thousand tons to 1 million tons"

Noting that the number of organic products was increased from 150 to 213 and that these products were also marketed abroad, a revenue of 361 million dollars was obtained in 2018, Erdoğan gave the following information:
"Likewise, the seed production amount, which was 145 thousand tons, increased to 1 million tons. 20 years ago, we were running around saying, 'I wonder where we can find seeds in Europe or America so we can distribute them to our farmers'. Where are we now? We took another step. Seed We increased our exports by 11 times to 102 thousand tons, and our export figure to 152 million dollars. In this period, the ratio of agricultural production to be met from local seeds on the basis of area was 80 percent. With the ATA Seed Project, we ensure that the plant varieties that make up our country's gene resources are protected. This is very important. We opened the world's third largest seed gene bank in Ankara with a sample capacity of 250 thousand. As of today, 121 thousand samples of 3 thousand 400 species are kept in the gene bank. In addition, the young population returns to the village to invest in the village and to ensure the rejuvenation of the agricultural population. We started the project. We have commissioned a grant support of 30 thousand TL per person to our young farmers between 2016-2018."
Underlining that they never neglected the forests while taking these steps in agriculture and animal husbandry, Erdoğan stated that they made serious investments to increase the forest area and tree wealth of the country, to develop biodiversity and to protect the environment.

"While They Burned, We Keep Breaking Their Arms"

President Erdoğan said, "Unfortunately, this year, the separatist terrorist organization has personally admitted that it burned our forests. While they were burning our beards, we continued to openly break their arm. As you know, on the 11th of the 11th, at 11:00, 11 million "We planted the sapling and the tree all over Turkey. This will continue." he said.