Russia, the big and powerful country, has lifted a ban on imports of Turkish food. This ban was imposed in November 2015, immediately after the lethal incident on the Syria-Turkey border. President Erdogan highly appreciates the cooperation between the countries, and this movement especially.
Russia welcomes again the Turkish workers in the construction sector, in tourism and in hotel businesses. After lifting the ban, Turkey will be able to export food to Russia again, however, Vladimir Putin is keeping seasonal limits on Turkish tomatoes, to help Russian producers of sauces and juices.
Since now, the Turkish workers in the construction sector, in tourism and in hotel businesses are also allowed to operate in Russia. The reason for cutting many economic and diplomatic ties between Russian Federation and Turkey became a border incident. In November 2015 a Turkish F-16 jet shot down a Russian Su-24 bomber on the Turkey-Syria border. There was a dispute over exactly what happened, and it triggered a freeze in Russian-Turkish relations.
The thaw, however, began after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed regret over the incident last year. President Putin’s first move was to lift a Russian boycott of Turkish holiday resorts.
Russia and West’s sanctions
Russia continues to ban imports of most Western food and drink, in retaliation for wide-ranging Western sanctions in place since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. For the international community, the role of Russia in the Ukraine armed conflict is clear.
The continuing military support for Syrian leader Assad angered Turkey, at the same time, the restoring of economic relations with powerful Russia is still very important to Turkey. Time to cooperate despite the different views on the Syrian conflict.
