TRNC government reach agreement with livestock breeders and farmers

The Cyprus Turkish Livestock Breeders and Producers have reached an agreement with the government over the price of animal feed, raw milk and subsidies, bringing to an end 6 days of protests they were staging in the capital Lefkoşa.

The agreement was announced following a four hour meeting between Prime Minister Tufan Erhürman, Finance Minister Serdar Denktaş, the Minister of National Education and Culture Cemal Özyiğit and the Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources Erkut Şahali.

According to the agreement, the price of raw milk has been lowered and permission will be granted to import mixed animal feed.

A 1 Turkish Lira per Litre subsidy will also be paid to milk producers in line with the agreement reached.

The Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources Erkut Şahali said that the aim of the talks carried out with the livestock farmers was to minimize the impact of the crisis on the public as much as possible.

He said that the agreement reached should not be perceived as a victory or defeat of any of the sides involved.

Finance Minister Serdar Denktaş said that the government’s concern had been to ensure that the arrangement reached will not have an impact on consumer prices.

Denktaş said that the relationship between the livestock breeder and consumer will be arranged differently by the government.

The measure we need to take to ensure the public consumes healthier and cheaper meat is to create an environment which also includes the Lefkoşa Turkish Municipality he said.

The President of the Livestock Breeders and Producers Union Mustafa Naimoğlulları expressed the hope that the government will be more sensitive towards the livestock sector in the period ahead. 

Naimoğlulları said that they were pleased to have reached an agreement on the issue of importing animal feed as it was the price hikes on feed as a result of the fall of the Turkish Lira against foreign currencies that had affected them the most.

BRTK