All over Europe, farmers have been taking to the streets to protest in recent months, snarling traffic with their tractors. Farmers in Turkey haven't yet taken to the streets, but the agricultural sector there is just as incensed by an adverse economic situation and dissatisfied with state subsidies. Turkish farmers face worse conditions than their counterparts in Poland, Germany and elsewhere, representatives for the sector say.
"One of the driving forces behind agricultural protests in Europe was that aid for agricultural diesel was being cut," said Baki Remzi Suicmez, president of the Chamber of Agricultural Engineers of Turkey. "In Turkey, there are no tax benefits for agricultural diesel anyway."
"While inflation is constantly going up and is almost at the 70% mark, the financial support isn't enough," Suicmez says.
Annual inflation stood at 64% last year in Turkey, according to official figures. Analysis by the Inflation Research Group (ENAG) calculated it at 127%. Germany, by contrast, saw........