Exporters from Southeast Anatolia, who covered 68.8% of Turkey’s pasta exports, aim to exceed 1 million tons in foreign sales this year. According to the Southeast Anatolia Exporters’ Associations (GAIB), last year Turkey exported 1,457,862 tons of pasta, generating income of $939,513,000. Southeast Anatolian pasta exporters, who accounted for 68.8% of this export, sold 1,023,436 tons of pasta last year, earning $608,596,000. Starting the new year swiftly, Southeast Anatolian exporters made 162,565 tons of foreign sales, generating $95,042,000 in revenue in January and February, increasing their exports by 7.6% compared to the same period last year. Half of Italy’s exports are made In the first two months of the year, Turkey’s pasta exports were $144 million, according to Celal Kadooğlu, President of the Southeast Anatolia Cereals, Pulses, Oil Seeds and Products Exporters Association. Kadooğlu highlighted that Turkey has the highest quality durum wheat in the world and a superior production infrastructure with competitive prices. He stated, “This is a great opportunity for both Turkey and the neighboring countries. As Southeast Anatolia, we export half the amount of pasta every year compared to Italy. With our price performance quality, we are constantly expanding our influence in the African market.” Kadooğlu explained that a significant portion of pasta exports are made to countries such as Ghana, Togo, and Benin, exporting to members of the Economic Community of West African States. He added, “As we enter different markets, our exports increase in quantity as the scale of the population we access expands. We believe that our pasta exports, which reached 162,000 tons in the first 2 months, will exceed 1 million tons this year.” Kadooğlu noted that Southeast Anatolia experienced the lowest February rainfall in the 2000s this year, but despite this, the pulse production continued smoothly, without any issues affecting the quality of the crop in the fields.