Miller Magazine Issue: 155 November 2022

84 INTERVIEW MILLER / NOVEMBER 2022 porters, Turkish flour industrialists have made a very import- ant contribution to this. Today, we contribute a lot to the feed industry, too. We, flour industrialists, produce bran, which is an important input of the feed industry. There are so many sectors that the flour industry touches. There is flour even in soups. We, flour industrialists, touch 7-7.5 billion people. Our industry produces very special products. Türkiye has a really big role in flour production. Speaking on behalf of TFIF, I think we have fulfilled this role in the best way. From the perspective of Türkiye, the significance of wheat has become better understood in recent years. In the past, global prices were much lower than domestic prices. There- fore, with this advantage, we used to import wheat and export flour under the Inward Processing Regime (DIR). This has not only transformed the sector but also has served as an import- ant added value for our present state. Of course, this, in time, has disinclined our farmers from the cultivation of wheat and barley, which are their main crops. And they started to look for alternative products. For exam- ple, when we look at the Aegean Region, perennial plants have increased even more. Many wheat and barley produc- ers in this region switched to perennial crops such as olives, grapes, and different fruit varieties. In the irrigable lands that did not switch to perennial plants, cotton generally remained in weight due to the high premiums given to cotton. There have been significant shifts from irrigable wheat fields. But the 1000-TRY premium implemented by TMO to wheat prices this year created incredible satisfaction for the farmer. Now the planting season is coming. The farmers are receiving information about the wheat varieties that they will plant for this period. We started to witness a very serious increase in demand. If wheat planting continues like this the next year, wheat production will increase rapidly in Türkiye. I do not doubt that the increase in Türkiye’s wheat production will add incredible value to both the flour industry and the bak- ery products sector. Because we make many products from wheat. We not only make flour from wheat, but also pasta, biscuits, bulgur, semolina, and bakery products. The impor- tance given to wheat in our culture is really remarkable. What gives baklava its crispiness is the exquisiteness of our wheat. I believe that the next generations will feel much more comfort- able if we can tell that exquisiteness while we market it to the world correctly, and if we can explain this approach correct- ly to the world public opinion. Because I believe that future generations, who will be much more educated, will explain these to the world and make them more valuable. Wheat will become even more important for both Türkiye and the world. Türkiye comes to mind when wheat is mentioned. When it comes to wheat, I predict that Türkiye’s importance will con- tinue to increase with each passing year. If we increase our cultivation areas and the amount of wheat production, we will have achieved the sustainability that we have aimed for, for a long time together with the farmer. WE REACHED THE HIGHEST JANUARY-JUNE EXPORT FIGURE EVER Türkiye is the world flour export champion for the last 9 years. However, about half of this export is made to neighboring Iraq. How do you see the future of the Turkish flour industry in this equation? With the support of the government and related institutions, we, as flour industrialists, have been the export champion of the world for the last 9 years. While carrying out our product supply in the domestic market flawlessly, we increased our exports to $652 million in the first half of 2022 with a 33% increase compared to the same period of 2021 and reached the highest January-June export figure ever. There are aspects where Türkiye is unlucky, too. Today, flour factories are being established in Iraq, a close location to Türkiye. For sure, factories are not being established only