Despite the harvest started, the dates were still imported

News Centre

In Mersin and the surrounding area, the import of 180 truckloads of dates from Azerbaijan just as the date harvest was starting raised the ire of local farmers. Toroslar Mayor Abdurrahman Yıldız said, "How astonishing that just as the date harvest is starting, the date capital is importing dates. Have we become so hostile towards agriculture? What will date palm farmers do if they cannot make a profit this year?‘ he said.

The second ’Date Harvest Festival" organised by Toroslar Municipality this year was held in Dalakderesi Village. At the event, farmers gathered to present and showcase their products. However, the farmers' agenda was dominated by the import of 180 truckloads of dates from Azerbaijan and their delivery to the domestic market, right in the middle of the harvest season.

Toroslar Mayor Yıldız, in his statement here, emphasised the need to protect the farmers' hard work, saying, "What a great surprise that date imports started on the day the date harvest began in the capital of dates. What kind of recklessness is this? If date farmers cannot make a profit this year, and they didn't make a profit last year either, will they cut down their date palm trees and move to the city's slums? How will these people survive? Where will they find work? This country really needs a sustainable agricultural policy."

WORKING HARD

Yıldız stated that imports must be stopped during the harvest season, saying, "Whoever is doing this, whoever is organising this import-export business, must immediately stop the import of quinces, pomegranates, dates and figs grown in this season. Because people are working hard, they are putting in the effort. There must be a payback for this,‘ he said.

Pointing out that planning agriculture is the primary duty of the state, Yıldız also touched on the lack of education and social services in rural areas, saying, ’Why have our Parliament, our government, our ministers, especially our Minister of Agriculture, failed to plan agriculture properly for years in this country? About 40 years ago, when I was in primary school, there were 88 students in our village. Now there has been no school in that village for 30 years. We must turn our faces back to agriculture, we must return to the villages, we must pave the way for young farmers to engage in agriculture. Is it so difficult to open schools in villages, to provide social security for young farmers, to give them a pension guarantee?"

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Hasat başlasa da ithal edildi, published in BirGün newspaper on November 10, 2025.