Turkish ministry denies report on Russian goods ban

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey has been implementing a liberal foreign trade policy in full accordance with rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as opposed to some reports in the media about Russian goods, according to Ministry of Economy Friday.

"As of March 17, there are some inaccurate reports in both domestic and international press about restrictions on import of some Russian goods.

“We would like to underline that these reports do not indicate the reality," the ministry said in a statement.

Turkey is a member of the WTO and is conducting its foreign trade operations to increase its share in the global trade under such free-trade agreements and customs union, it said.

"Turkey's foreign trade policy is completely outlined in the range of WTO rules," the ministry added.

Early Friday, some domestic and international reports suggested there would be some restrictions on Russian grain in retaliations for prohibitions on some Turkish exports.

In January 2016, after Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet violating its airspace, Russia banned the imports of Turkish fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, oranges, apples, apricots, cabbage, broccoli, mandarins, pears, peaches, cucumbers, plums, strawberries, onions, cloves, and poultry.

Following reconciliation between the two countries, Russia started to gradually lift the sanctions. But import bans on foods such as tomato and grapes, which have a market potential of $425 million in Russia, remain in force.

Russia recently withdrew the ban of some Turkish agricultural exports such as onion, broccoli and cauliflower.