The new regulation went into effect on Oct. 26 after it was published in the Official Gazette and drew widespread opposition from agricultural organizations, consumer associations and political opposition parties, which claimed that the regulation places the nation's health at risk by making the import of GMO crops in Turkey free. GMOs can be produced by gene cloning methods in which a non-native gene is introduced and expressed in a new organism. Until today, genetically modified soybean and corn have been entering Turkey due to a void of legislation.

According to figures from the Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects' Chambers (TMMOB), Turkey imported 1.8 million tons of corn and 900,000 tons of soybean in 2003, while the amount of soybean imported in 2005 rose to 1.2 million tons.

Turkey does not yet have a bio-security law, setting rules and regulations for GMOs; hence, the government says it wants to take these crops under supervision until a comprehensive law comes into effect.

Holding a news conference on Wednesday, Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker, the figure at the center of the criticism, dismissed allegations that the new regulation would open the way before the entry of GMOs to Turkey, explaining that the GMO trade will be supervised and that they will not escape supervision, as they had in the past, with this regulation. He also described the ongoing debates about the issues as aimed at misinforming the public.

The regulation does not restrict or ban the import or use of GMOs but only introduces some criteria for their import. It has shortcomings and runs counter to international standards about the use of genetically modified crops, said Victor Ananias, the head of the Buğday (wheat) Association for Supporting Ecological Living.

Before marketing a product to the public, authorities should first inform the public about that product in detail and also find out the possible risks and hazards of that certain product, said Ananias, adding that only after doing this can the product be put on the market.

In the case of GMOs, he said, for the time being it is not completely possible to determine their hazard to human health and the environment and the potential damage their use will have on the next generations because they have not yet been properly tested. “A long time is needed to monitor their effects,” he added.

An increasing number of scientists are warning that current gene-splicing techniques are crude, inexact and unpredictable -- and therefore inherently dangerous. They say the genetically modified seeds lead to resistance against antibiotics, heavy allergy, organ damage, disruption of blood and even infertility.

Regulation puts trade with EU at risk

Fatih Taşdöğen, an executive board member of the Agricultural Engineers Association of the TMMOB, another fierce opponent of the controversial regulation, said while EU countries such as France, Germany, Austria, Poland and Hungary push for laws to ban the entry of GMOs, it was very difficult to understand why Turkey adopted such a regulation, which he said does not impose any restrictions on the import and use of these products.

As a person who participated in the talks on agriculture with the EU, Taşdöğen warned that it will no longer be easy for Turkey to export food to Europe because more and more people there now prefer to consume natural and organic crops. He also noted that the EU never asked Turkey to adopt such a regulation -- either during entry talks or in any of the progress reports it has released so far.

There is virtually no market for GMOs in Europe as consumers and farmers have overwhelmingly rejected them. EU labeling and traceability regulations also give consumers better information to decide. Most of the 27 EU nations are opposed to GMOs because of risks to the environment and the type of cross-pollination, of which many Europeans have complained.

Anatolia is fertile, does not need GMOs

The reason why many demand a prohibition of GMOs in Turkey is because they say Turkey, as a mainly agricultural country, has the potential to feed its population with conventional crops and even export them to other countries.

Turkey, which enjoys a large biological diversity, has the potential to feed the nation through conventional food and should hence reject this technology, which was produced by the United States, Taşdöğen noted.

Ananias agreed and said that if Turkey can manage its resources efficiently, there will be no need to import food from abroad, which might contain GMOs. He also warned that if Turkey chooses to import food and animal feed, it may end up being a country dependant on others to sustain its food industry.

Commercial concerns

Among the reasons for why many oppose GMOs is the argument that the production of GMOs requires advanced technology, meaning only large firms will be able to undertake GMO research and development, giving them complete control over the global food market.

In a statement released early this week, the Turkish Foundation for Reforestation, Protection of Natural Habitats and Combating Soil Erosion (TEMA) opposed the adoption of the GMO regulation, saying the cultivation of GMOs will soon be possible in Turkey, polluting Turkey’s land, preventing farmers from saving seeds for the following year’s farming and forcing them to buy seeds from multinational companies.

The regulation also forbids GMO-free producer companies to mention that on their products.

According to Taşdöğen, this measure aims to protect GMOs from competing with GMO-free products.

Not everyone opposes GMOs

Not all have a problem with GMOs in Turkey, as some academics and analysts point out that the use of genetically modified crops may help the world overcome its looming hunger problem in the face of climate change and growing scarcity of land and water.

“Certain findings show that GMOs are harmful, but these findings contradict each other. Risks stemming from these foods for human and animal health should be thoroughly examined. If a conclusion is reached that they contain no risk, we should cultivate and use these foods,” said Professor Sabahattin Özcan from Ankara University.

“Before treating these foods as if they are poisonous, should we not stop and think responsibly? Interestingly enough, those who create an uproar about the world’s hunger problem are the ones who have the biggest problem with GMOs,” wrote Bugün daily’s Gülay Göktürk in her Friday column.

Source: Feza Newspaper Publishing Co