“This counter-approach perception directed towards us for Leather and Fur will turn around, but now because of the perception, animal rights are of course important. As a sector, we do not approve of people who torture and cruelty to animals. We say that people are people who have the honor of being human, and we are the defenders of their rights. But here we need to think industrially. For example, if tomatoes are offered to the service of people industrially today, this is the same way.”
As Magazine Leather Publishing, we are at the Leather & Fur Fashion Show Fair organized in Antalya. We will have an interview about Fur with Ali Yavuz BOYNUKISA, President of Turkish Fur Industrialists Association (KSIAD).
Mr. President, first of all we would like to get to know you and your association.
First of all, I would like to thank you for this interview. As Turkish Fur Industrialists Association (KSIAD), the headquarters of our association with all our members is located in Istanbul-Zeytinburnu district.
We are currently at the “LEATHER & FUR FASHION SHOW” in Antalya to bring our products together with our members to our customers. Turkey Fur Industrialists Association (KSIAD) has nearly two hundred and fifty members and continues its activities in Zeytinburnu. I myself am also the manager of a company that deals with fur and leather as a grandfather’s profession and father’s profession.
At the “LEATHER & FUR FASHION SHOW” fair in Antalya, together with our members in Istanbul-Zeytinburnu, our customers came from abroad, especially from abroad, because ninety-nine percent of the industry as a sector constitutes our companies on exports abroad. In other words, the products produced by all our members generally operate as export products abroad.
At the same time, we are within the fair as both LEATHER AND FUR.
Fur and leather are actually complementary. Leather is defined as a product that does not only have hair on it. Fur, on the other hand, can be lamb, sheep fur, sheep fur, other farm livestock fur, but these are all natural products that operate as natural products as a result of tanning the skins of livestock grown in farms.
How can we define fur? In this context, you have just mentioned lamb fur, sheep fur and other furs.
So now, as fur, the leather of these livestock, these are natural products, we can call these products the first profession of our world. People dressed to meet their needs such as shelter and clothing. We know that they were utilizing natural products in the early times.
The first impressions of the first people they made from bearskins….
I mean, I can’t say that he used bear hides a lot because bear would be a very absurd term, but of course, it operated as the first occupational field that animals living in nature used to meet their living needs such as dressing and eating.
Namely, since our products are natural, it is one of the sectors that cares most about the sustainability of the natural balance in the world. In this way, we do not harm nature thanks to the products we make. As waste, there may be animals whose meat is eaten today, there may be animals that are not eaten, but these products are completely beneficial to nature because they are products produced in nature. They are organic and because they are organic, we are the sectors that enable people to dress their shelter needs in a sustainable way, that is, without harming nature.
On animal rights, could you tell us a little bit about the animals raised on this farm? In other words, besides the animals whose meat is eaten, the meat of animals whose meat is not eaten, is it used in different industries or not?
Fur and leather naturally come from animals raised on farms, there is of course a section of animals that grow in nature, there are animals that breed in nature. These are utilized by our sector, which is defined as one percent or one thousandth.
These are also products whose hunting is subject to permission. Otherwise, our leather and fur sector completely takes the products produced in farms and offers them to people’s clothing. These animals do not have any health-related problems and we produce products that are beneficial to humans, we produce products that are beneficial to nature.
Generally, since all the farms are under laboratory control, their health, welfare conditions and living conditions are adjusted according to them, and their living conditions are provided in a way that sets their standards. They can be lambs, sheep, rabbits, bison, foxes. These are of course produced under healthy conditions and offered for human use.
In other words, we have nothing to do with animals living free in nature. As I said, these are products that are raised in a farm environment and used in the service of human beings.
We eat the meat of lamb and sheep, but can you tell us about the other animals whose meat we don’t eat?
The meat of other animals whose meat we do not eat is somehow used as feed for other animals. There is no waste in any way. Of course, in this way, you maintain the natural balance here. In other words, you give the meat of the other animal to the other animal and somehow the other animal species are not lost in nature.
So, is it important to wear plastic and oil or to use natural products? For example, when a fire comes on you, you know a plastic product, the natural product leather-fur does not burn easily and you wear the natural one.
Can we say this then? Animals are not slaughtered for their skins. Because at the same time, you buy the meat of animals whose meat is eaten from butchers and markets, but the meat of animals whose meat is not eaten is used as raw material in other industries.
Of course it is used for the meat and the skin. We should think of these as industrial production. Today, from tomatoes to cucumbers, these are all industrialized products. So there is no tomato living in nature today. So there are industrialized products produced by human beings. Of course, they are industrial products that man has made to make his life easier by playing with genes. Likewise, these lambs, sheep, goats, all of them. None of these animals will be able to live in nature. They don’t have the means to live in nature, and the products that humanity produces for itself and for the balance of nature, that is, industrial products, are all products that are natural but produced in unnatural ways, such as the tomatoes and cucumbers I just gave you an example of.
What would you like to say about these artificial materials that have increased recently?
Plastic is made from oil. Everyone sees their harm to nature. I don’t need to tell you how much plastic pieces pollute the seas and the products that enter the stomachs of animals and fish. Somehow, we also see that plastic and petroleum derivatives in the clothing industry create mountains of garbage that cannot be dissolved in nature.
This counter-approach perception directed towards us for Leather and Fur will turn around, but now because of the perception, animal rights are of course important. As a sector, we do not approve of people who torture and cruelty to animals. We say that if people have the honor of being human, we are the defenders of their rights. But here we need to think industrially. In other words, as the example I gave at the beginning, if tomatoes are offered to the service of people industrially today, this is the same way that the production of these animals and animal products are products that are offered to the use of humanity.
In other words, their lives are somehow produced by using their welfare at the highest level in those farms, that is, by taking care of them, and through this production, opportunities are provided to prevent plastics that will harm the nature.
In addition, there is another very important event; thanks to the production of these animals, at least the hunting of animals in nature, that is, the animals we produce, which are their counterparts in trace amounts, is prevented in this way. In other words, even if it is hunted as one in a thousand living in nature, that is, if it is hunted as one in a thousand, even if it corresponds to at least five percent of our products, let’s not say one in a thousand, but let’s say five percent, at least, even if the animals living in nature are not hunted, it is important to produce them in terms of their health because we produce these animals. Because they live in nature as natural selection, but thanks to all the animals in this farm environment, their lineage can also continue.
Because if these animals are not produced, if even one percent of those animals are killed unofficially, they will become extinct. It is also important to produce these animals to at least prevent extinction.
So if these farms don’t exist, they will be killed in different ways, right?
There is a possibility of killing, yes, it can be done in different ways. You know in Africa they hunt elephants, they hunt cougars. Their furs are of course hunted in illegal ways. So at least you are preventing this. Imagine that there are elephants in the world, but because there is a breeding farm for those elephants, those people don’t hunt them because they are produced. I am saying this because they don’t exist.
In other words, since the fur of these animals is produced naturally, no one can approach those animals anymore, because the income and the torture they will do with their skin and fur is no longer commercial, and because it is commercialized in this way, their selection is ensured.
Are there inspections in this case? I think the International Fur Federation has such a work that is registered, I think you can talk about it.
When I say supervision, I mean that these products are not hunted, so apart from the International Fur Federation, there is an agreement in the world. The CITES treaty is an agreement that all countries of the world can be a party to, that is, a hundred-odd countries are a party to it, and we, as Turkey, became a party in 1970 and fully joined in 1994. In other words, according to this agreement, animals that are endangered in the world should not be commercialized. In other words, today those animals, for example, the ability to move a product from one country to another is within the scope of CITES, so there are those that are in CITES and those that are not. There are some products that are endangered in the world.
Since there are too many of these animals with certain customs there, it sometimes does not allow some of those animals because it reduces the population of other animals. If this happens, they can be traded within the scope of CITES, but these are already within the scope of CITES, that is, as per the agreement of the relevant parties in the world. These are also in very small amounts. Namely, the animals produced in these farms are also outside the scope of CITES. In other words, they are not endangered animals, and since they are not endangered animals, since they are produced on farms, they are traded between countries according to that agreement within the scope of CITES.
In order for a product to go from one country to another, it must be outside the scope of CITES. If it is within the scope of CITES, it must be certified. Because every animal has a number. In other words, that animal can be traded between countries with the certificate that it was obtained by hunters for a purpose. So what happens this way?
If there is a trade between two countries, it is documented. In other words, imports and exports are carried out through the CITES certificate in the trade between all the countries that are parties to the CITES document, so that they do not harm animals in the world and are in farms. This means that this sector is commercial between countries by ensuring the development of trade. As trade, this can be achieved in accordance with the relevant agreements.
It also prevents poaching as a result of this certification…
Of course, if a product is going back and forth between countries, you must have a document, and if you have a document, it must be authorized. Other products, that is, poaching, which we all don’t want, should definitely be punished. Since I have known this business since I was a child, hunting for skin and fur is completely banned in our country. In other words, there are certain animals as hunting. All products related to fur are prohibited and this prohibition is also important for us that the natural balance in our Turkey is provided in this way.
All of the products we use are grown on farms and are permitted and thus we are a sector that provides export income to Turkey. In other words, on a kilo basis, the current price of one hundred and sixty dollars, which should be even higher, is around one hundred and fifty dollars because it is used as an accessory. In other words, while we can sell a kilogram of tomatoes and get one dollar, we sell a kilogram of fur, even though the origin of the product is not with us, one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty dollars of export income is provided to our country.
And do you participate in international fairs?
As I mentioned at the beginning, our sector is completely export-based. Because an export-based sector works completely abroad. Since it works abroad, of course, fairs abroad are important for us. As a sector, there is an opposition against fur, that is, against natural products, due to this wrong perception. In other words, through the perception of animals, on the contrary, our products are exactly what environmentalists want, in fact, they should talk to us about the most important issues that we will discuss with environmentalists.
Because all of our products balance the natural order, protect the natural product, that is, by marketing products with sustainable traceable systems that ensure the life health of animals both in nature and on the farm, we both generate income for our country and we are in a system that ensures the health and welfare conditions of those animals. In this case, our country is in the third position in the world exports in fur, especially in leather, of course, but also in fur, namely woolen fur products. In other words, we actually have close values with China, Italy and Italy. Although these are not reflected in the official figures, we are actually in the second position, but in terms of official figures, we are now in the third position, the third largest exporter in the world.
In terms of leather and fur garments, is a new generation of craftsmen being trained in the factories where fur garments are made by the brands producing in Türkiye?
Since the sector does not have the speed based on the past, we continue to have a shortage of personnel. We will experience this even more in the future. Of course, when the perception of the sector changes, it will create great opportunities. In other words, since it is based on the perception of animals, whereas it is not based on natural sustainable perception, the issue of finding workers is already a big handicap. People see the sector as a profession with no future. However, on the contrary, we do not know when this will happen in the future, this is related to the change of the public. Of course, there are not enough staff, there is a staff problem. But we are in this sector, we will continue, we will continue to struggle.
And as an association, do you attach importance to giving lectures in schools in the field of education?
As an association, we are trying to open courses, we are already giving courses in our association building. In our two distinguished universities, Mimar Sinan University and Marmara University, Fashion Design-Textile Design departments, we give information about furs and real perception. We explain that furs should be used in the products they use and that they are natural. We work both as our workshop and in terms of information transfer. We send students abroad, especially in these two universities, so we attach importance to education as much as we can.
In fact, I told the government and the ministry about the vocational trainings that need to be provided. The ministry says that it does not welcome the opening of a new branch. However, there are unemployed people in our country, that is, thousands of hundreds of thousands of university students are unemployed. However, it will be much more efficient if high school level trainings start. Of course, our current masters can earn more income than many university graduates who are experts in their field in every sector. Of course, it is very important to love the job. So vocational education is very important. In vocational education, I already see that the Ministry of National Education has moved this to universities, the university is already, that is, it will not be because it is a sector where there is practice, that is, these should be given in vocational education high schools in high schools, but the Ministry of National Education does not attach importance to this in vocational education. Although we have visited and told them many times, they say no, we do not want to open a sub-department. So we will continue to struggle.
In other words, it creates unemployment and you don’t get much efficiency when you start this job after university education.
In this sector, only the junior employee comes in and enters without any knowledge. Of course, then it becomes difficult for the sector to go anywhere. However, in vocational education, I don’t think that this sector or all sectors talk to the sectors sufficiently and value the needs of the sectors. Everything is looked at only as a university and universities are built. However, on the contrary, vocational trainings should be done.
Definitely now, since there is already artificial intelligence technology and technological breakthroughs, it is directed more towards those areas, but other crafts remain incomplete.
There is no problem there, artificial intelligence has become a way of life in our work and everywhere else. So there is no need to spread it in universities. These jobs can be completed in vocational education high schools. In other words, the sectors that will be opened after taking the two together with vocational education and producing theoretically, and those people will raise people who will take these sectors further. But right now the sector continues with its own means.
What are the last words you would like to say about the sector?
As a sector, it is very important for us to change this perception. If the perception changes, I believe that as a value-added sector, it will be one of the most important sectors in the development of the country, as I already see in our travels abroad. I also hope that the sensible people of our country will give these value-added sectors equal opportunities and opportunities and ensure that they get somewhere. Because perspective and perception are very important. The government determines a policy and determines that policy according to them, and if these things happen, the sector will come to very good places.
Because in terms of infrastructure, Turkey is the third largest exporter of textiles in the world, but since the country is the sixth largest exporter of textiles in the world, there is a gap between our value and the value of fur-leather and textiles in textiles today. So we can close this gap. In other words, they can do it by supporting us with value-added products. We are waiting for people who will give value.
We hope that in the sectoral impression, both external and internal problems will be solved completely. Thank you very much, Mr. President. We were at the “Leather & Fur Fashion Show” fair in Antalya. We were together with the President of the Fur Industrialists Association. We wish you good work.
I wish you a good broadcast, thank you.
