Butchers' demand for imported meat

The Cyprus Turkish Butchers Association (KTKB) and the Cyprus Turkish Restaurateurs Association met with the Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources Dursun Oğuz and demanded that imported meat be brought to the country. Head of the Cyprus Turkish Butchers' Association, Halil Akbıçak, stated he was promised by Minister Oğuz that the issue will be discussed at the Council of Ministers meeting tomorrow, and said, "We want to sell good quality good meat at a price that all citizens can afford”. The Head of the Restaurateurs Association Salih Kayım for his part stated that they were insistent on meat being imported, "We are tired of changing tags and changing menus every day, and every week,” he said. Following the meeting, the head of the Cyprus Turkish Butchers' Association, Halil Akbıçak, and the head of the Cyprus Turkish Restaurateurs Association Salih Kayım held a press statement in front of the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Akbıçak stated that the meat issue had been on the agenda for months and that serious problems were being experienced. He said that with the fall in the number of animals in the country, animal prices have increased and this is directly reflected on meat prices. Akbıçak noted that due to the price difference of close to 50-60 per cent with the recent price hikes the smuggling of illegal meat from South Cyprus is seriously disturbing in terms of health and unfair competition. Expressing that a conclusion had not been found despite the problems being conveyed to the authorities, Akbıçak said that the Animal Producers and Breeders Association were accusing butchers of increasing prices. Stating that the Minister of Agriculture Dursun Oğuz gave his word that illegal meat would be replaced with imported meat and that prices would be fixed on livestock animals, Akbıçak expressed the hope that the problem will be solved by Thursday and that the meat issue will be dealt with. “We want to offer two kinds of meat… local and imported” Pointing to the importance of taking steps to benefit producers, Akbıçak noted that they want to offer two kinds of meat to the citizens. Stating that one of them is local production and the other is imported meat, Halil Akbıçak said that there will be a price difference between them. Noting that these will be discussed at the Council of Ministers meeting tomorrow, Akbıçak said that taking into consideration the costs for the producer they intend to create figures that will satisfy the citizens and also keep producers content. The head of the Cyprus Turkish Restaurateurs Association Salih Kayım stated that they were facing the same problems and that the main raw material was from this sector. "We are tired of changing tags and changing the menu every day, every week,” Kayım said. Noting that the sale of red meat products was decreasing Kayım said that they were in support of the Cyprus Turkish Butchers' Association. Expressing that they were waiting for the conclusion of the Council of Ministers tomorrow, Kayım noted that they will hold another meeting among themselves following the Council of Ministers.