Does the ex-manager of the tobacco cartel protect the producer?

Trade It turned out that Deputy Minister Rıza Tuna Turagay is a board member of the British American Tobacco (BAT) cigarette company. After becoming vice minister on January 17, 2019, Turagay resigned from the position of vice president and board member of BAT.

PRODUCTION ACCIDENTS

CHP Adıyaman MP Abdurrahman Tutdere said: “If the Deputy Trade Minister becomes the CEO of BAT, he will bring a law to protect Adıyaman producers, Malatya or not. He brings prison, he brings laws that will collapse national production, ”he said.

Tutdere made a statement at Turkey’s Grand National Assembly, saying: “We searched and found out why the Ministry of Commerce loves prison sentences so much. Rıza Tuna Turagay, Deputy Minister of Commerce, is the Vice Chairman of the Board of BAT, namely British American Tobacco. President Erdoğan brought this friend and appointed him as Vice Minister on January 17, 2019. If the Vice Minister of Commerce becomes the CEO of BAT, will he make decisions in favor of the Turkish tobacco producer? she asked.

THERE IS A TUTOR COMPANY

Tutdere also asserted that tobacco growers were left at the mercy of the big cigarette companies, saying, “The big companies that control the market agree with each other, set a price, and impose this price on the farmer.”

Adıyaman MP Abdurrahman Tutdere said: “The cartels that control the market are looking at the sweat of the producers. The ministry, which is in charge of protecting the rights of tobacco manufacturers, is not doing its job because it has the protection of the international tobacco companies. They are in favor of big capital. The advertised prices in the east and southeast are 45-50 lira, in the Aegean 50-55 lira. Prices around the world are around 4 dollars, that is, about 75 lira. Farmers are victims and production is declining,” he said.

Abdurrahman Tutdere

“They surrendered to international companies”

Adiyaman MP Abdurrahman Tutdere drew attention to the decline in tobacco production, saying: “Although 400,000 tons of tobacco were produced in 2002, it dropped to 79,000 in 2021 and 74,000 in 2022. While our exports were 52 million 42 thousand 263 kilograms, our import was 258 million 79 thousand 418 kilograms. We import tobacco from abroad, in return we give millions of dollars to Bulgarian and American tobacco growers. The main source of this is the ceding of power to international companies.”