Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı attended the ceremony where 150 work machines were delivered to the machinery park at DSI Etlik Facilities.
Stating that they are following the changes in climate conditions in his speech here, Yumaklı said that water should be used correctly for agriculture, drinking water and production, and measures should be taken to prevent heavy rains from turning into floods.
Yumaklı stated that DSI performs a very important task in developing the country's water resources, meeting the needs of citizens and preventing the risk of disaster with its work, and stated that according to the 2026 Water Year Report of the General Directorate of Meteorology, an average of 741.6 millimeters of precipitation was recorded across Turkey between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026. Stating that this amount is 29 percent above the long-term average of 573.4 millimeters, and that the increase was 76 percent compared to the last water year, Yumaklı stated that the rainfall reached the highest level in the last 66 years.
Minister Yumaklı stated that while they were carrying out cleaning and reclamation works in stream beds, they also expanded early warning systems and strengthened communication between institutions and continued as follows:
"We will continue to popularize the Flood Early Warning System (TEUS) as an important part of this preparation. With the systems, water levels in the streams are monitored instantly. When there is a possibility of flood, we inform our citizens, local governments and relevant institutions through both SMS and other warning channels. Early news means intervention at the right place and at the right time."
"11 THOUSAND 466 FLOOD CONTROL FACILITIES WERE COMPLETED"
Giving information about flood control facilities, Yumaklı said, "To date, 11 thousand 466 flood control facilities have been completed throughout the country. Approximately 6 thousand 500 of them have been built in the last 24 years. Our goal in the next 5 years is to put 1000 more flood control facilities into operation." he said.
Stating that the delivered work machines will increase the capacity in flood works and will perform important tasks in the teams' work in the field, Yumaklı said:
"With 150 new work machines, the transportation of sediment and other materials removed from the stream beds will be done more efficiently. The carrying power of our teams between the work area and the casting warehouse or storage point will also increase. What happened with the new vehicles? The number of dumper work machines increased from 584 to 734. The 1141 work machines purchased in the last 5 years have provided a benefit of 37 billion liras so far. That is, a benefit of approximately 3 times its cost. DSI, Thus, he made a significant investment in his own inventory and benefited from it and made a profit."
"WE WILL CONTINUE STRENGTHENING OUR MACHINERY PARK"
Minister Yumaklı stated that these machines are used not only in DSI's own primary work, but also sometimes in forest fires and sometimes in different events, when necessary:
"Our motto is that our state and all institutions of our state have to fight shoulder to shoulder and provide service in the same place when our citizens need it. We will continue to strengthen our machinery park. We will continue to make and implement investments that reduce risks. We will continue to be with our citizens whenever they need them. But most importantly, we will continue to anticipate any issue that will cause any problem, within the context of DSI's job description, and eliminate those issues in advance."
