Watchdog: Turkish food exports to Russia unlikely to resume soon

MOSCOW/IZHEVSK, Jul 6 (PRIME) -- Turkish food is unlikely to return to the Russian market soon, Anna Popova, Head of the Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare Oversight, told PRIME on Wednesday.

“We see no Turkish goods today and it is absolutely obvious that we will not see them tomorrow,” Popova said. “It is unlikely to happen soon. Such a decision has not been made yet.”

Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachyov said that Russia has no plans to allow Turkey to export its agricultural products to the country soon.

“We are not in a hurry to open our market, the reason is obvious – we should support our agricultural producers,” the minister said.

“Yesterday the prime minister (Dmitry Medvedev) said clearly that it is not considered today, as for resorts, yes, they opened this marketplace, it is an ‘understandable’ neighboring country for our tourists, with a longer tourist season.”

On June 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to lift ban on travelling to Turkey and charter flights to the country.

The Russian–Turkish relations deteriorated after Turkey downed Russia’s Su-24 bomber in November 2015. In late June, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a letter to Putin expressing his condolences to the family of the downed plane’s pilot. Shortly after a phone conversation with Erdogan, Putin ordered the government to start normalizing relations with Turkey.

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