ANKARA
Turkey wants to more than double its national agricultural revenue by 2023, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.
Speaking at an event in Ankara, Erdogan said: "Our national agricultural revenue has reached $61 billion in 2014. We aim to increase it to $150 billion by 2023."
Turkey currently ranks at number seven among countries in terms of added-value in agriculture, food and livestock in its exports, according to the Turkish Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker.
Erdogan said that Turkey was now Europe's biggest agricultural producer, ahead of France, Italy and Spain.
"We want to increase our agricultural exports to $40 billion by 2023," said Erdogan.
Export of agricultural products earned $18.7 billion in 2014, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.
"Within the Regional Development Program, since today, 3.7 billion Turkish liras has been allocated to the producers. Overall 13,308 projects were sponsored with this fund. The investment amount for the program is 7.5 billion Turkish liras," said Erdogan.
He added that the projects have huge impacts on the development of the country's agriculture and livestock.
Referring to the "parallel state," which refers to a purported group of Turkish bureaucrats and senior officials embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and police, who are allegedly trying to undermine the elected Turkish government, Erdogan said: "We will never allow those who want to divide our citizens that have been living like brothers for thousands of years in these blessed lands."
Erdogan added that to make Turkey a strong and respected country both in its region and in the world, the government has struggled with factions inside and outside the country.
The president will chair the National Security Council meeting at Presidential Palace, where a number of important issues are to be discussed including the parallel state.
