Cafer ELMAS/BILECIK, (DHA)- Ismail Ayaz (39) cut his cherry trees to protest middleman by stating that he sold the cherries where grew on his 62-decare land in Bilecik for 2 TL, but the price at the city went up to 15 TL. “Cherries are 2 TL or 3 TL in here. However, in Istanbul, people eat cherries for 15 TL. The middleman gets money we deserve” Ayaz told to DHA.
Ismail Ayaz, who has been growing cherries in Yenikoy, Bilecik for about 15 years, protested the situation by saying that he sold the cherries for 2-3 TL per kilo to the broker and the market, the kilogram of the cherry in the market stalls increased to 15 TL. Stating that he will no longer grow cherries, Ayaz emphasized that cherries bought from 8 TL about ten years ago decreased to 2 TL in this period. He started to cut down 1000 cherry trees in his garden to protest middleman earnings.
“We sell cherries to middleman around 2 TL or 3 TL per kilo. When you arrive in Istanbul, the citizen eats cherries for 15 TL. The middleman makes the money. As you can see, we started to cut trees. There is a tree that is 15 years old here, and another is 40 years” Ayaz said.
