Opposition Leader Calls for Olive Aid in Balikesir Visit

Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the YENI Party, traveled to the Zeytinli neighborhood of Edremit district in Balikesir on October 31, 2026. He met with olive producers at Zeytinli Village Square to hear their concerns. Women producers made up a large part of the gathering.

Producers described rising input costs, low purchase prices, labor expenses, and lack of social security. Ozel listened to their demands and proposed direct support for olives and olive oil, a purchase guarantee, and policies to secure producers' incomes.

“This is the first time in two thousand years that olive producers are in such a difficult situation.”

Ozel specifically called for an additional direct subsidy of 20 lira per table olive and 50 lira per unit of olive oil. He framed the crisis as the worst in two thousand years of local olive cultivation.

Producer Gulsum said daily labor wages had reached 1,500 lira while a sack of olives sold for 300 lira, leaving her costs at 6,000 lira. Producer Zeynep reported that fuel oil cost 100 lira, preventing her son from planting wheat on 30 decares, and that plowing the field cost 5,000 lira.

Other women producers said family incomes had shrunk to the point where they could no longer give pocket money to their children. Some families harvested olives with their own means because workers were hard to find. A producer from Pinarbasi village said olives remained on the branches and basic needs were difficult to meet.

Ozel also criticized U.S. tariffs on olive oil, saying Edremit could not profit while the United States benefited from the Erdogan-Trump relationship. He referenced alleged demands for aircraft purchases and expensive natural gas.