Günseli Kenarlı / Istanbul, Sep 16 () - Chairman of the Agriculturalists Association of Turkey (TZD) İbrahim Yetkin told the fact that meat prices could not drop despite the zero tariff importations of Meat and Milk Board stemmed from manipulations of brokers over the market and prices. “The market of meat is in the hands of the manipulators” told Yetkin.

Yetkin told Dogan News Agency that the three different lots of importations had no impacts on the meat prices in Turkey and added that in normal conditions, Turkey assures a meat production of more than 1 million tons.

“A group of brokers seeking to make more profit exists in Turkey. The leading meat sellers, the mediators, who have a large amount of meat and animals…The market is in vtheir hands; they manipulate the meat prices” said Yetkin.

According to Yetkin, although the country has the sufficient number of animals, because of the mediators coming second after the producers, consumers face hike in meat prices.

In the last six months, meat prices has rose by around 40 percent, and after the successive increases, the meat prices reached 26.5-27 liras and the prices could be declined to minimum 25 liras, with the importations, said Yetkin, addressing an “unjust enrichment” of mediators.