“Wholesalers in Antalya have been seriously affected. There are those [who are] going out of business, and trucks are coming back. In light of the crisis, we have been forced to look toward the domestic market, but we do not know to what extent it can handle this,” exporter Ali Yandık said.
The list of products Turkey is no longer allowed to sell to Russia includes frozen chicken and turkey parts, fresh and frozen tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, peppers, oranges and tangerines, apricots and strawberries.
The Turkish economy has few reasons for optimism with exports down by 8.4 percent since January 2014.
In 2016, with the full set of Russian sanctions against Turkey in place, the country’s exports will keep going down even faster, The Asia Times warned.
Relations between Turkey and Russia have been at a historical low since November 24 of last year when a Turkish F-16 fighter jet shot down a Russian bomber in Syrian airspace.
Moscow responded with a set of security-boosting measures and trade sanctions against Ankara.