Ground meat 775 lira, chops 1,490 lira at Ankara market; chicken shelves emptied within minutes

In an on-site observation conducted by Sözcü Gazetesi reporter Erdoğan Süzer at a wholesale market in Ankara over the weekend, the price gap between red meat and poultry emerged strikingly: ground meat's "discounted" kilogram price was 775 lira, bone-in neck 850 lira, chops 1,490 lira, and mid-range cubed meat over 1,000 lira — while whole chicken was 99 lira, chicken fillet 160 lira, and drumsticks 140 lira.

While poultry sections emptied in a short time, the massive 8-to-10-metre red meat counters remained virtually untouched. A 100-gram portion of ground meat — too expensive to cover even a bus fare between Şişli and Kadıköy in Istanbul — illustrates how far ordinary consumers have drifted from red meat.

According to Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) data, red meat prices rose more than 70 percent in the same period last year. The market's red meat section had displayed similar scenes in the same season a year ago; since then, ceiling prices have roughly doubled.