Presidents of Russia and Turkey try to repair economic relations

BOFIT Viikkokatsaus / BOFIT Weekly Review 2016/32

Russia-Turkey relations cooled substantially last November after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet. Russia’s retaliatory measures included restrictions on food imports, tourism and operations of Turkish construction companies in Russia. In late June, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologised for the downing of the Russian plane and Russian president Vladimir Putin cancelled the restrictions on Russians’ traveling to Turkey and ordered the other sanctions under reconsideration. At the presidents’ meeting in St. Petersburg at the start of the week, Putin said the sanctions on Turkey would be lifted gradually, but gave no specific timetable.

Putin and Erdogan also discussed joint energy projects such as the Turkish Stream gas pipeline and the Akkuyu nuclear power plant. Work on the Turkish Stream project came to a halt last summer, due e.g. to delay in issuing required permits in Turkey. Now Russia’s energy minister stated that next negotiations are planned for October. The Akkuyu project was launched in 2010, but has made little progress due to legislative delays in amending Turkish law.

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