Minister: Turkey, Russia to lift food embargo in weeks

ANKARA (AA) – Lifting an import embargo imposed on Turkish agricultural goods by Russia will take one to two months, Turkey’s food minister has said.

Minister for Food, Agriculture and Livestock Faruk Celik was speaking at Anadolu Agency’s Editors’ Desk in Ankara on Tuesday.

Celik said the agricultural committees of Turkey and Russia met in April to rebuild relationships

Turkey and Russia were embroiled in conflict over the shooting down in November 2015 of a Russian warplane which entered Turkish airspace.

Commenting on the losses suffered by Turkish farmers during that period, Celik said the burden of the jet crisis should not be laid on ordinary people, adding: "If we didn’t import [Russian goods] worth $2-3 billion, Russian farmers would also have been suffered losses."

"Were the Russian farmers or Turkish farmers involved in the jet issue? No. We may see who was involved in this issue, soon," Celik added.

Celik said Turkey's exports were delivered to Russia by longer, diverted routes leading to losses for both Turkish farmers and Russian consumers.

"The two leaders [Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin] frankly declared the necessity of lifting the embargo both at St. Petersburg and G20 meetings. It is expected that the embargo on agricultural products is to be removed in one to two months," said Celik.

"We are about to take the first step, and believe that the issue will be concluded soon," he added.