Ever-rising meat prices infuriate most Turks

Turkish people, struggling with high inflation for a long time, are outraged by the latest successive increases in meat prices ahead of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, reported Xinhua.

Mete Tasyumruk, a butcher in the Kurtulus neighborhood in central Istanbul, said the prices have increased every week for at least six months.

Tasyumruk said that the price of a kilo of ground beef was 270 Turkish lira (about 13.93 U.S. dollars) at the beginning of April, and it stands now at 350 liras. And a kilo of beef tenderloin steak, the most expensive meat in his shop, increased to 560 liras, up from 500.

"Considering the minimum wage of 8,500 liras, it is now impossible even to approach the meat," said Mete Tasyumruk, who has been in the business since 1989. "We go to the slaughter every week to buy meat. Every time we go, the merchant tells us the prices have risen. We see 10 to 15-lira increases every week."

In Tasyumruk's view, rising prices affect people's eating and shopping habits to a great extent. "Meat is expensive now. No one can deny this," he said, noting that the upcoming Eid, which will start on Friday, would see fewer meat dishes on the tables of most Turks than before.

The high prices have also disrupted his wholesale businesses with restaurants nationwide.

"It is now more challenging to deal with our partners, restaurant owners," he said, noting that he has been facing a series of complaints, with most of them refusing to pay at the new price. "Because they can't change the prices on their menu weekly so easily."

According to Tasyumruk, one of the main reasons for the increase in meat prices is the high cost of livestock farming, and many farmers engaged in this business quit their profession. He urged the relevant authorities to support farmers to boost production.

"People don't get along with the minimum wage. It is not enough for anything," Cennet Kazankaya, a frequent customer of this butcher, lamented to Xinhua. "The future scares us. Every week comes with a raise. We face different prices every week."

Sevda Kara, another customer, paid 320 liras for a lamb kebab to add joy to her family's Eid al-Fitr table. "Very expensive. Nothing is affordable," she murmured. Relying on her husband's monthly pension of nearly 10,000 liras to make a living, Kara said she rarely cooks meat due to the rising prices.

Meanwhile, local media reported that the Competition Authority, a state institution, has launched a preliminary investigation into the red meat sector to examine whether there is a speculative price increase.

"The investigations focus on whether any formation in the market violates the rules of competition," Birol Kule, president of the Competition Authority, was quoted as saying by Cumhuriyet Daily. Kule noted that those who act against the rules would be fined.

Turkish people have long been facing high living costs triggered by a high inflation rate, which hit a 24-year high of 85.5 percent last October. The inflation stood at 50.5 percent in March, but the actual cost of living experienced by locals is higher as the prices of many products at least doubled in the past year.