Turkish Bakers Federation President Halil İbrahim Balcı put an end to the debates about selling bread for 5 TRY in some districts of Istanbul. Balcı, who made evaluations about bread prices at the "Professional Evaluation and Consultation Meeting” which was held in Samsun, said, "Last week, 3 districts of Istanbul started to sell bread for 5 TRY. We stated that this illegal practice is wrong. The maximum kilogram price for bread is 20 TRY in the entire Turkey. If you sell 200 grams of bread for 5 liras, the price exceeds 20 TRY. Our colleagues have put an end to this illegal practice.”

Balcı emphasized that the price may differ by province with regards to the weight, but that the kilogram price shall not exceed 20 TRY anywhere in Turkey. “The kilogram price of bread will not exceed 20 TRY in Turkey. Bread is the cheapest food. Since this can continue and we think that this process is temporary, the bakers show the necessary sensitivity by making sacrifices. For this to continue, the necessary action has been taken with constant dialogue with the relevant ministries. However, although we had said 'Increasing the price to 5 TRY is not on our agenda' in July, whereas there is a serious change in the minimum wage and electricity fees, the privilege must be granted to the bread-producing enterprises. We will discuss this with the ministries as we have done so far,” he concluded.