Largest Demonstration of 5,000 Tobacco Producers

The tobacco manufacturers protested that the buying companies gave a price of 55 lira for the tobacco that cost them 80 lira and held a demonstration in the Kale district of Denizli.

At the rally attended by about 5,000 producers, the farmers recalled that the cost of tobacco is 80 liras per kilo and they wanted a price of at least 100 liras.

Supporting the producers, CHP Vice President Gülizar Biçer Karaca said: “From now on, the producers will determine the price”; CHP Manisa MP Ahmet Vehbi Bakırlıoğlu said, “The manufacturer’s cap has been on the ground for 20 years.”

IYI Denizli Party MP Yasin Öztürk drew attention to taxes on tobacco products; “The State should not take the tax on three-wire cigarettes, but support the manufacturer,” he said.

MANUFACTURERS FROM 4 CITIES CALLED TO THE GOVERNMENT IN DENIZLI

Tobacco manufacturers, who were forced to sign a blank contract in May, revolted against the price of 55 lira per kilo before buying.

Farmers from Denizli, Muğla, Manisa, Aydın and Uşak held a large demonstration in Denizli’s Kale district and called for the government.

‘WE DO NOT DELIVER LESS THAN 100 LIRA’

Speaking to the crowd, Kaleli producer Muttalip İbileme stated that they will not deliver their products at prices below 100 lira.

“While we were basking in the sun on a summer day, the representatives sent by those who got on their millionaire yachts and traveled from country to country didn’t even take off their sunglasses with us here,” Ibileme said.

“Now is the time for action. We will ask the price of tobacco when it is time to deliver tomorrow,” Ibileme said, adding: “If they still hold out at the same price, we will not deliver them below 100 lira. If money is of them, the tobacco is ours, we will not give it. Don’t let them look that the people with their scorched faces have not made a sound until now. Our neck comes to cut, but not to cut,” he said.

While another producer stated that he would not accept any price below 100 lira, one producer said: “While they earn 1,925 lira per kilo of tobacco, we earn 55 lira. No one should bid below 100 lira,” he said.

‘DON’T GIVE UP YOUR TOBACCO’

The vice president of the CHP, Gülizar Biçer Karaca, affirmed that they will not condemn the producers to companies.

Karaca said: “Diesel, fertilizers, medicines, wages, and rents paid per acre have at least tripled, but they have seen a double increase in bread from the tobacconist,” Karaca said.

Karaca said: “The table of 6 tables will take care of your tobacco for at least 100 lira in June”, and continued as follows:

“Who determines the price of tobacco that will not be enough? Company…

You, the producers, whose hand with a face burned with the smell of tobacco is made of black cardboard, will set this price. In no way will we condemn you from the lips of a company.

At the same time, your costs should also decrease. First of all, the SCT and VAT will be removed from your diesel. If there is duty-free diesel on the yachts, the tobacco growers will also use duty-free diesel.”

‘THE FIELD IS LEFT TO THE COMPANIES’

In his speech, IYI Denizli Party MP Yasin Öztürk said; “Tekel was privatized in 2008. I left the field to the companies. Since no one else bought your tobacco from those companies, they gave you a very cheap price,” he said.

Öztürk said: “Look at the price of the tobacco you sell today and the price of the cigarette,” and continued as follows:

“In the past, during the Demirel era, a kilo of tobacco was worth a long Samsun carton. Today, give away a box of Long Samsung 320 lire, at least half. Let it be 160 lire.

There are 20 cigarettes in a pack. Three of the 20 cigarettes are yours, the delivery man and the shopkeeper… Whose are the remaining 17? 83% tax is charged. Can’t you return three of them as support to your farmer instead of taking 17 cigarette cables as tax?

The companies continue with the new management system. To put an end to them, we must restore Tekel so that price regulation can be achieved in the market.”

‘THE CASE OF THE PEASANT HAS BEEN ON THE APARTMENT FOR 20 YEARS’

CHP Manisa MP Ahmet Vehbi Bakıroğlu, on the other hand, underlined that the producer is no longer happy with the advertised prices and used the following statements:

* A shepherd’s fire was lit in Uşak. Large crowds began to gather around this fire today. Today, tobacco farmers work hard from scratch in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

* In 2006, producers in this country sold tobacco for 497 million dollars abroad. He was buying tobacco for $240 million, half that. The year is 2020, we have an export of 279 million dollars, it has been reduced by half… There is an import of 563 million dollars. It’s duplicated. Before we sold twice as much abroad as we bought, but now we buy twice as much abroad.

* They do not hand over girls to tobacco farmers in Akhisar. In the past, weddings, associations, societies were established with a one-year tobacco money. This is the situation we have arrived at… Let us question how we got here.

RATED FIRST, THEY SAID ‘CAN’T PRODUCE’

* The first installment was introduced. They said you can’t produce. Then there was the fund for the foreign product and they reset it. While the producers in Turkey were hungry, those abroad received support. Then Tekel was privatized. Then they said you would do contract production… They forced you to make a contract.

* Those contracts cannot be read, there are already small articles. There are dozens of articles. By the time you read it, it will stop production anyway. All articles here are in favor of the exporter. There are no items in your favor from the manufacturer. It has no substance. Here, they do not write how much you will sell your product for.

* You know the Pyramids of Egypt, those pyramids were built by slaves. But when a slave got up in the morning, he knew what to eat for lunch and what his ration was for the night. 2,000 years ago… Tobacco farmers in Turkey do not know how much the goods they produce will cost. The name of this order is the slavery order.

* The cap is the symbol of the peasant and the farmer. Tens of thousands of corks would fill the streets of Akhisar, waiting for the price of tobacco to be announced. They knew good and bad prices. The main price would be a great raki price. If prices were good, tens of thousands of caps would be released into the air. If it was bad, the caps fell to the ground. Friends, the villager’s cap has been on the ground for 20 years. It does not rise from the ground.