The "eggplant war" in Turkey: inflation, speculation and betrayal – 02/02/2019

The kilo of eggplant that cost five lire last week on a market in Istanbul, is paid today to twelve. This increase, which affects other essential vegetables in Turkish food, has provoked speculation from the government and the reaction of sellers to withdraw their products.

"If these grocery stores continue to exploit my people, it is my duty to make it pay, and I will do it," threatened the president of Turkey, the Islamist, last week. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who accuses them of betraying the country.

In response to this attack, many vendors began to remove eggplants and peppers from their stalls, adding to the high price the shortage of products.

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"We had to make a decision before the rhetoric that they use against us, we try to close the ranks and not to sell some products for a while," justified the president of the Turkish Federation of Retail Trade ( TPF), Mustafa Altunbilek.

Trapped between these two positions, many citizens denounced the surge of vegetables essential to Turkish cuisine, such as green pepper and eggplant, which doubled their prices during the last week of January.

The price of the ingredients needed to bake a menemen, a kind of scrambled egg, for five people, cost the equivalent of 1.5 euros in ten days to be worth almost four.

In the explanation, the complex macroeconomic factors and bad weather conditions are mixed, giving rise to controversy that has become problematic. one of the main topics of debate before the municipal elections of March 31.

"Average food sector prices have risen 25% a year in December, a little less than in October, but it's still a significant increase," said L & # 39; economist Ahmet Öncü at EFE.

According to the newspaper Cumhuriyet, the increase in food prices in January resulted in a staggering 55% inflation per year.

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Added to this is the bad weather in Antalya, the Mediterranean province that produces 53% of vegetables in Turkey and suffered a tornado at the end of January.

The government has been trying to control inflation for months with striking measures, such as the deployment of police in supermarkets to record prices and investigate stores where unusual increases are detected.

Last month, the finance minister registered deposits of onions in Ankara in order to avoid any speculative measure. At the end of January, the Ministry of Commerce sent a circular to governors in the country's 81 provinces asking them to release their prices weekly. retail business

But when Erdogan attacked in January against "speculators", accusing them of being traitors to the country, the TPF responded by withdrawing the products.

Green peppers, eggplant and zucchini in particular could disappear from the shelves.

The owner of a supermarket chain confirmed to EFE that this option was under discussion, but he badured that she would continue to sell these vegetables, despite the high costs, striving to To offer the lowest possible price in a free market.

For the moment, these vegetables are still present in the shops and markets of Istanbul, although in less than usual places.

"In winter, it is normal for vegetables to go up when it's cold in Antalya, it improves the weather and they come down again, even if after the tornado, we can expect a new rise", explained a salesman in a market of street in Istanbul.

"It's the law of supply and demand, when people do not want to buy, prices go down," he added.

Source: EFE