11 mn saplings planted across Turkey

 Eleven million saplings were simultaneously planted on Monday across Turkey as part of a mass campaign aimed at contributing to the agriculture while establishing a greener landscape for future generations.

The campaign is dubbed "Breath Into the Future", Xinhua news agency quoted Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bekir Pakdemirli as saying.

"We ensured that 11 million saplings were planted in three hours at 2,023 different points in 81 provinces," he said.

The planting started precisely at 11.11 a.m. lwith a view to carrying Turkey into the Guinness Book of Records by planting the highest number of saplings in an hour and creating the largest digital photo album of the event.

Despite the initial target of 11 million, nearly 14 million saplings were adopted for the campaign, with 212,000 in Istanbul, Turkey's biggest city, and nearly 340,000 in the capital Ankara.

Last week, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared November 11 as National Forestation Day.IANS