Thousands demand ouster of Yemen's president

Yemeni students chant slogans calling on their president Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave the government and follow Tunisian ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile during a protest in Sanaa, Yemen. AP photo

Drawing inspiration from the revolt in Tunisia, thousands of Yemenis fed up with their president's 32-year rule demanded his ouster in a noisy demonstration that appeared to be the first large-scale public challenge to the strongman.
Saturday's protests in Yemen appeared to be the first of their kind. The nation's 23 million citizens have many grievances: they are the poorest people in the Arab world, the government is widely seen as corrupt and is reviled for its alliance with the United States in fighting al-Qaeda, there are few political freedoms and the country is rapidly running out of water.
Still, calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down had been a red line that few dissenters dared to test.
In a reflection of the tight grip Saleh's government and its forces have in the capital - outside the city, that control thins dramatically - Saturday's demonstration did not take place in the streets, but was confined to the grounds of the University of San‘a.
Around 2,500 students, activists and opposition groups gathered there and chanted slogans against the president, comparing him to Tunisia's ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, whose people were similarly enraged by economic woes and government corruption, reported the Associated Press. "Get out get out, Ali. Join your friend Ben Ali," the crowds chanted.
On Sunday, about 200 journalists marched in the capital to demand the release of press freedom activist Tawakel Karman and other detainees, while witnesses said student protesters clashed with police in San‘a.
One of the organizers, Fouad Dahaba, said the demonstration was only a beginning and they will not stop until their demands are met. "We will march the streets of San‘a, to the heart of San‘a and to the presidential palace. The coming days will witness an escalation," said Dahaba, an Islamist lawmaker and head of the teachers' union.
Making good on that pledge will be difficult. Like other entrenched regimes in the Arab world, Yemen's government shows little tolerance for dissent and the security forces - bolstered by U.S. military aid intended for fighting the country's virulent al-Qaeda offshoot - are quick to crack down.
Police fired tear gas at Saturday’s demonstrators, whose grievances include proposed constitutional changes that would allow the president to rule for a lifetime. Around 30 protesters were detained, a security official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
On Sunday, clashes broke out as security forces tried to disperse the students in the capital, Agence France-Presse reported, citing witnesses. A cameraman for Al-Arabiya satellite channel who was filming the clashes was briefly detained, his station said. And a cameraman for Al-Jazeera was beaten by police, the Qatar-based station said.
Since the Tunisian turmoil, Saleh has ordered income taxes slashed in half and has instructed his government to control prices. He also ordered a heavy deployment of anti-riot police and soldiers to several key areas in the capital and its surroundings to prevent any riots.
Nearly half the population lives below the poverty line of $2 a day and doesn't have access to proper sanitation. Less than a tenth of the roads are paved. Tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes by conflict, flooding the cities.
The government is riddled with corruption, has little control outside the capital, and its main source of income - oil - could run dry in a decade.
Protests were also held in the southern port city of Aden, where calls for Saleh to step down were heard along with the more familiar slogans for southern secession. Police fired on demonstrators, injuring four, and detained 22 others in heavy clashes.
Military forces responded harshly to two similar protests a day earlier in four cities in the nearby southern province of Lahj, even firing mortar shells that killed one woman. The response forced residents to flee.
Besides the battle with al-Qaeda's local franchise, which has taken root in the country's remote and lawless mountains, Yemen's government is also trying to suppress the secessionist movement and a separate on-and-off rebellion in the north.
Adding popular street unrest to that mix could present the government with a new challenge, though it has shown itself to be resilient even to the occasional al-Qaida attacks to penetrate the capital's defenses.

Top British economist says banks need major revamp

John Vickers, chair of the UK's Independent Commission of Banking, is seen speaking at a news conference in London in this file photo. Bloomberg photo

Britain's banks need major reforms as their failure to manage risks had been "spectacular," the chair of the Independent Commission on Banking said on Saturday.
Economist John Vickers, who heads a body reviewing whether to split banks' investment and retail entities, said taxpayers should not have to provide "a generous safety net" to stop banks from collapsing.
"For the most part, retail customers have no effective alternative to their banks for vital financial services, and hence there is an overriding economic, social and political imperative to avert any disruption to the continuous provision of those services," Vickers said.
"The task is to find better ways of ensuring this, if possible, while allowing unsuccessful individual institutions to fail safely," he said during a speech at the London Business School. "Ultimately, financial risks have to be borne, and in a market system they should not be borne by the taxpayer providing a generous safety net."
Vickers is a former chief economist of the Bank of England who served on the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee from 1998 to 2000. He was then head of the Office of Fair Trading until 2005.
"If the probability and/or impact of bank failure particularly of retail service provision can be reduced by forms of separation between banking activities, then so too might capital requirements," he said. "If so, the case for structural reform might be greater the higher is the cost of bank capital."
Just six banks control almost 90 percent of all deposits in Britain, a far higher figure than in Germany or the United States.
The fear that British banks have become "too big to fail" was fuelled by the financial crisis when the government had to bail out Royal Bank of Scotland, Northern Rock and the Lloyds banking group.
The commission is due to publish interim proposals in April, with a final report to follow in September.

Turkish Press Scan for Jan. 23

Sabah

-- Family waits 9 years for justice

Hüseyin Ateş, whose son was killed in a traffic accident in 2002, has spoken out in protest over the lengthy court process in the case, the daily Sabah reported Sunday. Ateş’s son was hit by a bus going the wrong way down a road closed to traffic.
“My son Ali Can, 14, was run over by a bus going the wrong way on a closed road and died in front of our house in 2002. The year is now 2011 and our pain hasn’t diminished because nobody is getting any punishment. It’s not observing the trials from the balcony which makes me relive the accident every day, it’s the case process continuing for years,” said Ateş, criticizing the case, which has been overruled twice and resulted in an inconclusive verdict three times.
The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against the driver, Mehmet Atar, and engineer Mehmet Ali Akyan for “causing death due to negligence and inattentiveness.” The driver and the engineer were given a sentence of two years and a fine during the case, which concluded in 10 months. Afterwards, the family appealed. While the decision was waiting at the Supreme Court of Appeals, the family learned that Ali Can’s autopsy hadn’t taken place and the doctor who allegedly did the autopsy didn’t take an oath.
The Supreme Court of Appeals sent the file to the local court so they could make a decision in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedures, or CMK, law passed in 2004. When the doctor confirmed that the signatures in the autopsy report belonged to him, the suspects were given the same penalty but then appealed. Then, the Supreme Court of Appeals overruled the decision. When the suspects also appealed this decision, the file was sent to the Supreme Court of Appeals in 2008 and was given to the Criminal Division in 2010. However, the Supreme Court of Appeals still hasn’t made a final ruling.

Radikal

-- Hydroelectric power plants threaten rafting championships

Rafting championships will be threatened if a hydroelectric power plant project in the Fırtına Valley of Rize province goes ahead, daily Radikal reported Sunday. “European and world rafting championships are planned to be hosted by Turkey in the next several years. If these dams are built, then it won’t happen,” Erdoğan Bucan, national rafting team couch of Turkey told daily Radikal.
“When we went to Bosnia and Herzegovina for the world championships, they proposed to organize the European championships in Turkey. They said the world championships could then be hosted by Turkey,” Bucan said.
Saying Fırtına Valley was unprecedented in the world for rafting conditions, Bucan stated that they were against building dams in the region. “Rafting cannot be done without water.” He said foreigners were interested to the valley. “Fırtına Valley is very close to the city center, to the hospitals. You can also go rafting in Dalaman, but only helicopters can intervene in case of need,” he said.
Ömer Şan, from the Rivers’ Brotherhood Platform, said seven of 123 hydroelectric dam projects in Rize would be built in Fırtına Valley. Şan noted that the hydroelectric dam projects were being developed even though Fırtına Valley was a protected area.

Cumhuriyet

-- Draft law to protect women stalled by ill staff

A draft law on protecting families cannot move forward because staff members at the Prime Ministry are ill, daily Cumhuriyet reported Sunday. The law was brought to the agenda after the death of Ayşe Paşalı, whose death at the hands of her ex-husband allegedly stemmed from the state’s failure to protect her. The draft law is being prepared by the Prime Ministry’s directorate that is responsible for women’s affairs. The extended law will protect women who do not have a formal marriage, women who are living common-law with their partner, as well as those who are divorced, from domestic violence. The draft law will also include “threats of violence” as a reason for the state to protect women. But there has been no progress on the draft law for the past 20 days because the relevant personnel are ill and no one else is in a position to handle the matter, the daily said. Civil society organizations have said there are a number of shortfalls in the law and have demanded the name of the law be changed to solely “protecting women.” They also said the number of women’s shelter was limited and that first response stations were needed to protect women.

Vatan

-- The camera records refuted the proceedings of police

Police officers’ accounts of a traffic accident in Istanbul’s Kayışdağı neighborhood involving two sisters were proven to be false after camera recordings of the incident refuted the officers’ narrative, reported the daily Vatan on Sunday.
After the traffic accident, in which two sisters narrowly escaped death, police officers wrote an official report saying that the accident happened 30 meters from the pedestrian crossing. However, camera recordings showed that the accident actually happened at the pedestrian crossing.
Hafize Başkaya, 19, and her sister Kadriye Başkaya, 17, were hit by a car driven by Ender Zini, a student at Yeditepe University’s Business Administration Department, while trying to cross the street at a green light. The two sisters were heavily injured and taken to Göztepe Education and Research Hospital afterwards.
Policemen making investigations at the incident scene said the accident happened 30 or 40 meters away from the traffic lights, in their report. After Hafize Başkaya claimed that the accident didn’t occur in the way that was stated, their lawyer asked for camera footage.
He was told that no records could be found as the camera located 100 meters away from the light was broken. After searching for witness accounts, the lawyer and the girls’ father managed to find camera records proving that the incident happened exactly at the spot the girls had alleged.

From Anatolia News Agency:
HÜRRİYET
-- THOSE WHO ATTEMPT TO TAKE PEOPLE'S LIVES CANNOT BE MUSLIM
Attending the inauguration ceremony of several facilities in southeastern Batman province, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the issue of the Kurdish Hizbullah without mentioning the group's name. "Nobody can associate his/her personal desires and wrong opinions with this religion. Nobody can have the courage to present Islam and murder as two close notions," Erdoğan said. The Turkish prime minsiter attended the collective inauguration of 69 facilities in Batman where Hizbullah has a certain influence.
-- NO RESULT IN NUCLEAR TALKS
The Istanbul summit on Iran's nuclear program held between Iran and five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany (P5+1) did not yield to any results. Catherine Ashton, European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said that they had aimed at having a constructive meeting, however, it had become clear that the Iranian side had not been ready.
MİLLİYET
-- AIR OF STRAIT DID NOT EASE
Representative of European Union (EU) Catherine Ashton, head of the P5+1 delegation at the nuclear talks in Istanbul, said it was not possible to make cooperation.
Talks carried out between Iran and P5 1 countries (United States, Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany) for two days ended on Saturday. EU Representative Catherine Ashton pledged to support Iran's peaceful nuclear projects and to remove the sanctions in case enriched uranium is delivered to them. However, Iranian party did not give the expected reply.
-- EVEN I DON'T KNOW WHY I KILLED HIM
Mustafa Duyar, gunman of Özdemir Sabancı assassination, married with Semra Duyar in prison in July. Duyar told his wife what had happened. Semra Duyar said, "Mustafa did not like to tell much about his action. We have talked about this only for two times. He told me they were used. He said, 'I killed, but even I don't know why I killed him.'
SABAH
-- NO COMPROMISE, BUT THE DOOR IS OPEN
Talks carried out between Iran and P5+1 for two days remained inconclusive. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu separately met with EU Representative Catherine Ashton, and Saeed Jalili, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council five times. Both parties departed saying, "doors are open to meet again".
-- PRESIDENT GÜL TO RESPOND EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARIANS
President Abdullah Gül will address the first plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , or PACE, in Strasbourg which will take place in January 24-26.
President Gül is expected to respond to questions of parliamentarians after addressing the plenary session on January 25.
Gül is scheduled to meet Council of Europe's Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland and PACE President Mevlut Çavuşoğlu during his stay in Strasbourg.
VATAN
-- MEDVEDEV'S SUPER YACHT FROM TUZLA
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev purchased a Tuzla-made 53-meter long super yacht to host his guests. The yacht, which was built by Turkish businessman Cefi Kamhi's company Proteksan-Turquoise, had been sold to Italians 1.5 years ago. It passed into the hands of Russians last month and they bought the yacht for 30 million Euros. Officials said Medvedev would use the yacht to host world leaders during the winter games to be held in Sochi in 2014.
-- OPERATION ON JUDICIARY IS GREAT DANGER
Speaking on his way to western Denizli province, Republican People's Party, or CHP, chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said, "They are establishing their own law for an oppressive regime".
"They will have their own judges and prosecutors, moreover, decisions will be taken by the political authority and will be approved by the judiciary. This is the biggest danger in the history of the Republic," Kılıçdaroğlu said.
CUMHURİYET
-- TANRIKULU OF CHP PROPOSES FORMATION OF PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION TO PROBE MURDERS BY UNKNOWN ASSAILANTS
Republican People's Party, or CHP, deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu held his first news conference in southeastern province of Diyarbakır after becoming deputy chairman responsible for human rights.
Tanrıkulu proposed "Truth Commission" to be established to create belief in justice. Tanrıkulu said he made the proposal on behalf of his party. He said the commission should be established with the laws and should be independent and should have broad authorities.
Tanrıkulu said mission of the commission should be defined as "probing the murders by unknown assailants and missing persons since the coup on September 12, 1980."
-- NO SOLUTION IN ISTANBUL
No result could be obtained from the talks carried out in Istanbul regarding nuclear program of Iran. EU High Representative Catherine Ashton said Tehran put forth removal of sanctions and uranium enrichment right as precondition, whereas Saeed Jalili, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the talks remained inconclusive as there was not "common logic" between the parties.
RADİKAL
-- STATE DO NOT HEAR US
There are millions of hearing-impaired people in Turkey. These people cannot enjoy their education, health and communication rights, as well as their freedom of expression. They have only 60 schools 15 of which are high schools and the rest offering primary school education. They have no kindergartens. They say that they are concerned, insulted and not understood by others. However, their wishes are simple: doctors, nurses and civil servants who understand the sign language.
-- SABANCI, THE SUPER WOMAN OF ANATOLIA
German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has described Güler Sabancı, chairperson of Turkey's renowned Sabancı Holding, as the "Super Woman of Anatolia." The paper said Sabancı was an indispensable figure for the Turkish public and economy, adding she had been listed among the world's most powerful and successful women several times by prestigious publications.
TÜRKİYE
-- ERDOGAN: MOVE WILL CONTINUE
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed people in southeastern province of Batman. Erdoğan said, "we will maintain national unity and fraternity project without stepping back, without bowing to provocations and without falling into the traps into the gangs."
Erdoğan said, "we will act altogether against those who are against our growth and development."
-- WAVE OF "ONE MINUTE"
On the second anniversary of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's "one minute" reaction in Davos, number of countries recognizing Palestine exceeded 120. Ecuador, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chili, and Russia were included among the countries recognizing Palestine.
-- TIME FOR ERZURUM
Meteorology gave good news as there are a few days to the 25th Winter Universiade Games that will take place in eastern province of Erzurum. Snow is expected on Wednesday.
Snow will continue on Thursday and Friday.
ZAMAN
-- NO RESULT IN NUCLEAR TALKS, BUT DOOR STILL OPEN
Nuclear talks held in Istanbul between Iran and the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany did not yield to any results. Parties held each other responsible for the process, however, they agreed that the door to diplomatic solution was still open. Catherine Ashton, European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said that "their proposals remained on the table and their door remained open". Iran's chief negotiator for nuclear talks Saeed Jalili said that "their rights should be respected first".
-- INDIVIDUAL APPLICATIONS TO CARRY TURKISH JUDICIARY TO EUROPEAN STANDARDS
In an interview with Zaman daily, Ayşe Işıl Karakaş, the Turkish judge of the European Court of Human Rights, commented on important issues such as the new constitution and latest amendments opening the way for individual applications to Turkey's Constitutional Court. Noting that she did not agree with the concerns of Council of State and Supreme Court of Appeals regarding "the right to file individual applications with the Constitutional Court", Karakaş said such implementation would carry the Turkish judiciary system to the court’s standards.
YENİ ŞAFAK
-- THAT IS ENOUGH
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said some circles were trying to disrupt tranquility in eastern provinces. "We will never allow those that are afraid of freedom and democracy," he said.
Attending the inauguration ceremony of several facilities in southeastern Batman province, Erdoğan said some specific circles started to take action again as time of elections was getting closer. Erdoğan called on people to be more aware against those who apply to anti-democratic oppressive methods.
-- SUPERWOMAN OF ANATOLIA
Frankfurter Allegemeine Zeitung introduced Guler Sabanci as the "Super Woman of Anatolia." The newspaper said Sabancı was a rarely seen example in Turkey.
-- THERE IS NO RECONCILIATION BUT HOPE
Meeting of P5+1 group in Istanbul regarding Iran's nuclear program ended without yielding an outcome.
EU Representative Catherine Ashton said, "We are disappointed. Iran's conditions can not be accepted, however, the talks will continue."

Southeast Australia set for another week of floods

Rising flood waters start to engulf roads in the Victorian town of Horsham. AFP photo

Rural Australian towns braced for another week of flooding Sunday as a vast lake continued to spread across the country's southeast and a potential tropical storm threatened the northeast.
The flooding began more than a month ago in Australia's northeast Queensland state, where 30 people have died, more than 30,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed and at least 3 billion Australian dollars ($3 billion) in crops and coal exports have been lost.
Record rains have shifted the flood emergency focus to southeast Victoria state, which is usually parched during the southern summer.
Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan said in a statement Sunday that the floods will rank as one of the most costly natural disasters in Australian history and its impact on the economy will be felt for years. The government will announce its first cost estimates on Friday, he said.
The State Emergency Service has warned that a lake about 90 kilometers long northwest of the Victorian capital of Melbourne will continue coursing inland for the next week until it spills into the Murray River.
Emergency services were focusing their efforts 340 kilometers northwest of Melbourne at Swan Hill, a town of 10,000 where the Murray meets the swollen Lodden River and flood waters are expected to peak mid week, SES spokesman Sam Bishop said Sunday.
SES said 75 towns in the state have been affected by flooding and another five to 10 towns are still in the floodwaters' northern path across flat wheat-growing country.
Almost 2,000 homes and businesses were flooded or isolated and close to 5,000 people have been evacuated, SES said.
Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology warned Sunday that a low pressure system off the north Queensland coast could develop into a cyclone over the next few days.
The bureau rated the chances of a cyclone - which could lash the coast with gale-force winds and torrential rains - at between 20 percent and 50 percent.

Deal on Afghan parliament opening 'in question'

Afghan men shout slogans during a demonstration against paliamentary election results in Kabul. AFP photo

A deal between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and rebel lawmakers on opening the country's new parliament looked in doubt Sunday amid disagreement over a special tribunal on electoral fraud.
It had seemed that a constitutional crisis in the war-torn country had been averted after lawmakers said late Saturday that Karzai, under heavy pressure from the West, had dropped a plan to delay parliament's opening by a month.
But now lawmakers are threatening to reject a key condition of Karzai's for opening it Wednesday instead - that they recognize a special tribunal on fraud in September's parliamentary polls which many say is unconstitutional.
An official source, speaking anonymously, said Karzai was unlikely to open parliament Wednesday, as agreed under the deal, if the lawmakers did not promise to respect the tribunal.
The disagreement between the lawmakers and Karzai centers on the fact that the Pashtuns, Karzai's traditional power base and Afghanistan's biggest ethnic group, were left under-represented in parliament after September's elections.
The polls were hit by massive fraud - around a quarter of the five million votes cast were thrown out and 24 early winners disqualified. MPs fear that the tribunal will oust some of their number, paving the way for their replacement by Pashtun candidates.
"What's being said about the opening of the parliament on Wednesday, that's conditional," the official source told AFP. Asked if Karzai will open the parliament Wednesday if the MPs fail to accept his condition over the tribunal, the source added: "I don't think so."
He continued: "The MPs said that they will accept the outcomes of the legal process that is currently underway. The president sent them to write this down, sign it and bring it back to him. So far, they have not returned."

Fresh talks to start

Meanwhile, lawmaker Molawi Rahman Rahmani said a fresh round of talks between Karzai and MPs was set to be held Monday, adding that most lawmakers wanted to see the special tribunal abolished.
"The same 38 people (who held talks with the president Saturday) are going to talk to Karzai regarding the abolishing of the special tribunal," he said. "We are going to inaugurate the parliament on Wednesday" with or without Karzai, Rahmani added, while saying he thought Karzai would "probably" be there.
Highlighting wider tensions caused by the long-running saga, up to 150 losing candidates and supporters from the September elections held a protest in Kabul against any opening of the parliament Sunday.
They want Karzai to cancel their election results and hold recounts. One losing candidate, Najibullah Mujahid, told AFP: "This agreement is the result of pressure by drug dealers and foreign embassies. "We don't accept it. We tell the president we support you and you, president, should follow constitutional law."
Early Sunday, around 200 out of 249 members of the Wolesi Jirga - the lower house - gathered in Kabul for talks after announcing Saturday that Karzai had agreed to open parliament Wednesday, a U-turn on a previous plan to delay for a month.
This averted a potential clash with MPs Sunday, the date originally slated for the inauguration, when they had planned to open parliament without Karzai in defiance of his authority.
In the wake of the deal, lawmakers were debating whether to agree that Afghanistan's Supreme Court rather than the tribunal can rule on electoral fraud, as Karzai stipulated.
They later agreed to go back for more talks with Karzai on this point.
One leading MP, Mohammad Younus Qanooni, said: "We're against the special tribunal and we only recognise the regular Supreme Court. "We're working to convince the president to agree to scrap the electoral tribunal."

Ahmadinejad says Iran open to more nuclear talks

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivers a speech during a press conference. AFP photo

Iran is open to holding further talks with world powers over its nuclear programme, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday, a day after the failure of the latest round of dialogue.
"They have talked for a few rounds, but we never expected that issues would be resolved during these few sessions because of the record and mentality of the other parties," the hardliner said in a speech aired live on state television from the nothern city of Rasht.
"But if the other side is determined and committed to justice, law and respect, one can hope that suitable results could be achieved in future sessions."
Talks held in Istanbul on Friday and Saturday between Iran and the six world powers - Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany - failed to yield results.
The dialogue was aimed at ascertaining whether Iran's contentious nuclear programme masks a weapons drive as suspected by the West, but staunchly denied by the Islamic republic.

Turkey’s agriculture outpaced by population increase, says chamber head

Turkish Agriculture Engineers’ Chamber Chairman Turhan Tuncer warns that although there was no risk of famine, agricultural production being outpaced by the overall population increase marks a major problem. (AA)

The Turkish Agriculture Engineers’ Chamber is expecting the growth of Turkey’s agriculture production in 2010 to fall beneath the country’s population increase, as is always the case, according to Chamber Chairman Turhan Tuncer.
Tuncer said agriculture has forever had social, economic and political importance in Turkey, creating 25 percent of overall national employment and providing 10 percent of gross domestic product. Speaking at the opening of an agriculture symposium held to celebrate the 165th year of the launch of agriculture education in Turkey, he warned that although there was no risk of famine, the failure of agricultural production to keep up with the overall population increase marked a major problem.
Tuncer said a food shortage never broke out in Turkey even though the country’s population increased from 13.5 million to 73 million between 1927 and 2010 because of the success of agricultural engineers. He also said in recent years wheat, potato, sugar beet and tobacco cultivation drastically decreased in Turkey, pulse and bean cultivation areas greatly shrank, the number of livestock fell from 85 million to 35 million and the per capita meat consumption fell from 10 kilograms to 6.5 kilograms, which has caused the country to need to import meat in order to meet its meat demand.
Stressing that it is unacceptable that Turkey to be left dependent on meat imports, Tuncer requested agricultural subsidies be increased to the level of 1 percent of GDP, the legal level, adding that as long as the appropriate subsidies were provided agricultural production capacity would continuously increase.
Tuncer said in the last two decades the number of farmers fell from 9 million to 6 million, and the 3 million giving up farming have moved to the suburbs and are unemployed.  “Therefore, we cannot dub the fall of agriculture labor modernization, nor industrialization.”
Tuncer demanded that the agriculture sector be granted informative, technical and machinery support and he criticized abolishment of the “responsible manager” practice with the new food law. “A lot of engineers were left unemployed due to this change, which also puts food safety and public health at great risk.”
He said with 100 million liras the obligatory responsible manager practice could be reinstated for food businesses.