Turkish minister says trade retaliation by Russia will hurt its farmers

ANKARA - Reuters

Turkish Agriculture Minister Faruk Çelik. AA Photo

Any trade retaliation by Russia over Turkey’s downing of a jet flying sorties in Syria would hurt Russian farmers more, Turkish Agriculture Minister Faruk Çelik said on Nov. 27, pointing to import-export figures.

Turkey has not yet received official notification of any embargo by Russia, Çelik also told reporters. 

However, it would be wrong to let the tensions between Russia and Turkey impact farming, commercial and economic ties, he said. 

Russia has increased checks on food and agriculture imports from Turkey, the Agriculture Ministry said on Nov. 26, in the first public move to curb trade in a dispute with Ankara for the  downing a Russian fighter jet.

The Russian government told Russia’s food safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor to increase controls after agriculture ministry research showed about 15 percent of agriculture imports from Turkey did not meet regulations, the Russian ministry said.

Çelik said Turkey exports around $1.3 billion of agricultural goods to Russia and buys $.2.9 billion of agricultural products from Russia. 

“Any trade retaliation move will hurt mainly Russian farmers, not Turkish farmers,” he said.