Turkey exported 30 per cent more poultry in the first half of 2010 over the same period of the previous year, exceeding US$86 million, Poultry Meat Producers and Poulterers Association (BESD-BIR) data have shown.

According to Today's Zaman, the data note Turkey's poultry exports have been on a constant rise since 2007, following a temporary slowdown due to an avian flu scare in 2005, citing an Anatolia news agency report. Turkish poultry exports were up from $28.19 million in 2006 to $44.41 million in 2007. This figure soared to $87.27 million in 2008, before skyrocketing to $152.59 million last year. This uptrend continued in the first six months of this year as well, with a 30 percent increase year-on-year to $86.85 million over $66.67 million in the same period of last year. Chicken meat makes up the majority of Turkish poultry exports. The first half of the year saw exports of chicken meat rising by 22 per cent over the same period of 2009, reaching $67.8 million.

The Iraqi market was the main reason behind the sector's upsurge in 2008 as it buys more than half of Turkish poultry exports. In the first six months Iraq paid $52.77 million for poultry from Turkey, up from $40.79 million a year before. This was followed by Azerbaijan, which purchased poultry costing $4.72 million during this period. Viet Nam and Tajikistan were other top countries importing poultry from Turkey. Chicken feet exports, the demand for which is strong in Far Eastern countries, also registered a heavy increase in the first half of the year, surging by 73 per cent year-on-year. During this period, Turkey sold $18.32 million in chicken feet to Viet Nam, Hong Kong, China and Thailand. Today's Zaman reports that, among them, Viet Nam ranked first, paying $12.71 million for chicken feet purchased from Turkey.