ANKARA: Turkish authorities ask Russia to lift all restrictions on supplies of Turkish food products. In particular, it goes about the supplies of Turkish tomatoes to Russia.
Earlier this month, Russia lifted restrictions for imports of Turkish carnations, onions, shallots, cauliflower, broccoli and salt. Yet, imports of pears, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples and poultry are still banned.
Should the restrictions be lifted, Turkey plans to increase trade with Russia to $100 billion a year.
On January 1, 2016, Russia banned imports of the following fruits and vegetables from Turkey: oranges and tangerines, grapes, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, including nectarines, plums, strawberries, tomatoes, onions and shallots, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers and gherkins. Russia’s embargo also affected imports of poultry, salt and carnations.
In March, Russia’s Federal veterinary and phytosanitary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor additionally imposed temporary restrictions on imports of Turkish peppers and pomegranates to the Russian Federation for quarantine reasons.
To crown it all, Russia banned imports of Turkish eggplants on April 25.
At the same time, Fillon said that imposing sanctions on Russia was an incorrect way to solve the problem and noted that the restrictive measures were Europe’s responsibility. The politician added that the EU found Russia’s course unacceptable, but the imposition of sanctions allegedly tightened the position of the Russian Federation even more.
