Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay gave important messages by attending the 13th Seed Exchange Festival, which has become a tradition of Seferihisar Municipality. During the festival, 500 thousand seedlings, carefully grown by Seferihisar Municipality, were distributed to the people of Izmir free of charge. Mayor Tugay emphasized that a national agricultural policy should be implemented in order for Türkiye to reach a self-sufficient production power, said that the protection of local and ancestral seeds is of vital importance and said, “We will not allow any of our local seeds to die.”
Seed Abundance and Solidarity in Seferihisar
The 13th Seed Exchange Festival, which was held enthusiastically in the lovely town of Ürkmez in Seferihisar, was attended by President Dr. Cemil Tugay, Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Responsible for Agriculture Erhan Adem, CHP Party Assembly Member Baran Seyhan, Seferihisar Mayor İsmail Yetişkin, representatives of various civil society organizations, producer cooperatives, muhtars and many citizens of İzmir.
Heirloom Seeds Turned into Saplings and Met with the People of Izmir
As soon as Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay arrived at the festival area, he and his protocol members first started to distribute the seedlings meticulously produced at the Can Yücel Seed Center of the Seferihisar Municipality to the citizens. In this meaningful study carried out with the aim of protecting, multiplying and directly bringing together local and heirloom seeds with producers, a total of 500 thousand healthy seedlings were offered to the people of Izmir free of charge. After the seed exchange, Mayor Tugay visited the valuable seed and local product stands set up in Ürkmez Square and had sincere conversations with the producers of Seferihisar.
President Tugay: “We Will Not Let Our Local Seeds Die”
Mayor Tugay, who started his speech by thanking all the previous mayors who contributed to the organization of Seferihisar Seed Exchange Festivals for 13 years, said: “When I saw our valuable citizens who share the valuable seeds they grow with other people, our youth who are the guarantee of our future and our elders who carry the wisdom of the soil, I understood once again that their bond with the soil is so strong that it can never be broken. We have a very important duty to carry from them to the future. This duty will be with us today and with the generations after us tomorrow. Just two days ago, we put the Yahşibey Irrigation Pond Transmission Line Facility, which is of great importance for the strengthening of agricultural production in our Dikili district, into service. We are working day and night with all our might to strengthen agriculture. However, unfortunately, agriculture is not planned and supported as it deserves. For this reason, agricultural production in our country is not at the desired level. We are worried that this situation will worsen in the coming years. We really need a comprehensive national agricultural project that will enable Türkiye to reach a self-sufficient production capacity. We need a policy. In such a critical period, it is vital that there is agricultural awareness, love of the land and knowledge. Because the dimensions of the food and water problems that may occur tomorrow cannot yet be fully estimated. The negative effects of unhealthy agricultural practices on our health cannot be ignored. For this reason, as a nation, we need to learn to protect our land, water, valuable trees and ancestral seeds. I wholeheartedly congratulate all our citizens who have this important awareness and work with this awareness. We will never allow our local seeds to die. Because we believe that some values should be protected away from commercial concerns. We cannot look at everything only through the eyes of commercialism.”
Chairman Tugay’s Criticism and Call for Cooperation to the Central Government
President Tugay, who also stated that they are ready to provide all kinds of support and cooperate with agriculture as local governments, said, “Of course, we will increase our efforts at the local level, but higher-scale, national-level work needs to be done to solve these problems. The current environment clearly shows that our people are much more conscious about agriculture and food than the central government. On the one hand, I am very happy that we have such a valuable and conscious people. On the other hand, I am saddened to be governed by a government that is far from being able to do such an important job. However, we are here. We will continue to work and produce tirelessly. When we take on the responsibility of governing this country in the future, we will definitely solve these vital problems.”
Deputy Chairman Adem: “DSİ’s Work Was Done by Chairman Cemil”
CHP Deputy Chairman Responsible for Agriculture Erhan Adem thanked Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay for his valuable support for agriculture in his speech. Adem said, “Despite being an agricultural country, our farmers were unfortunately forced to move away from agriculture due to the lack of support they deserve. Since our producers cannot earn money from milk production, they are forced to send their animals to slaughter. Input costs and feed prices have skyrocketed. At this point, our President Cemil is working with great devotion to eliminate the irrigation water problems experienced in our region. Our President has truly accomplished a great job. He has put into service an important facility that will provide irrigation of the fields in the Dikili region with a drip irrigation system. This is truly a great service. Under normal circumstances, this service should have been provided by the State Hydraulic Works (DSI). However, unfortunately, our metropolitan municipalities are forced to undertake many important tasks that the central government should have done.”
Criticism of the Central Government and Support for the Presidents from Deputy Chairman Adem
Erhan Adem, who explained the problems experienced in the agricultural sector in Izmir and throughout the country and the wrong policies implemented in detail, continued his words as follows: “Due to the wrong policies of the central government, our youth are unfortunately forced to live in cities with low wages. Our small family businesses should be encouraged to become cooperatives and they should be supported by giving a purchase guarantee for the products they produce. This is why the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality and our district municipalities have focused on these important issues. In fact, our valuable mayors are unfortunately forced to do the vital work that the Ministry of Agriculture should do. However, despite all the difficulties and obstacles they face, our brave mayors are trying to solve the problems with great determination. In fact, some of our mayors are unfortunately faced with unjust arrests due to these outstanding achievements.”
President Adult: “This is not just a Seed Exchange Festival, it is a Resistance”
Speaking at the ceremony, Seferihisar Mayor İsmail Yetişkin stated that the 13th Seed Exchange Festival was very productive and that they distributed heirloom seeds to farmers free of charge. Adult said, “The sale of local seeds is legally prohibited. That is why we collect these valuable seeds through barter and re-grow them. By sharing these seeds we collect with our people, we both directly support our farmers and contribute to our citizens’ access to healthy and natural food. Today, we have gathered here not only for a festival, but also for a very important struggle. This is an honorable struggle against agriculture, one of the biggest problems of our country. Every citizen who comes here is participating not only in a seed exchange festival, but also in an important resistance. Shopping from markets where healthy and natural products are sold has become a luxury in our country. Unfortunately, many products we buy from markets contain poisons and pesticides that are harmful to health. You eat these poisons, we eat them. Unfortunately, there is poison on the people’s tables now. Our producers are constantly in debt, there is no support, no incentive, no solution. On top of that, we are faced with a big problem like drought. So what is being done about all these problems? Unfortunately, nothing is being done.”
