Delegations from Turkey, Russia to meet next week to discuss economic issues: Minister

ANKARA

AA photo

Economy delegations from Turkey and Russia will meet next week to discuss recent economic issues, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said in an interview on April 11. 

The delegations will also discuss ongoing bans by Russia on agricultural imports from Turkey, Zeybekci said in the interview hosted by state-run Anadolu Agency’s editorial desk in Ankara.  

Saying that the meeting would be held next week, but the exact details were still unspecified, he added that “No country can win through bans. On the contrary, all lose. In an environment devoid of bans, all will win.”

Zeybekci said there has been a strong declaration of intention to lift the bans imposed by Russia on Turkish products since the normalization in bilateral ties started. 

“The desired results have however not been reached,” he added. 

He said the ban on around $500 million worth of Turkish products out of a total $750 million worth of fresh fruit and vegetables were still continuing, adding that Turkey continued to import $1.8 billion worth of agricultural products from Russia. 

“Our exporters however do not want to buy Russian products and questioned us saying, ‘How could you allow Russia to sell almost three-fold of what we sell to them?’ They said they did not want to buy Russian products. They asked us not to include Russia on our imported licenses in a list of accepted tax-free origins. I then made my warning to the Russian side,” he said. 

Ankara repeatedly said Turkey has not banned purchases of grain - mainly wheat, maize and sunflower oil - from Russia, but noted that imports could be halted as Turkish companies choose to avoid buying from Moscow.