MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Moscow on March 10.
"I believe, the main thing is that we have left the concept of ‘normalizing’ our relations in the past, and not only have our relations returned to the pre-crisis level, but we have established specific goals to develop them [the relations]," Dirioz said during a press conference at the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency.
Continued efforts on the parts of both Russia and Turkey are required in order to lift the trade embargo imposed by Moscow against Ankara, he said.
"The restrictions on import of fruits and vegetables were lifted, but those measures are not enough. We need to work more to lift the remaining restrictions."
In particular, the parties need to address the issue of Russia’s abolition of worker visas for Turkish citizens, the minister stated, adding that Ankara "looks to the future with hope".
The previous HLCC meeting took place in December 2014, but was followed by a deterioration of relations after the November 2015 downing of a military Russian aircraft by the Turkish Air Force over Syria. In June, tensions began to thaw since the Turkish president apologized in a letter to the Russian president for the incident and offered his condolences to the family of the killed Russian pilot.
On January 1, 2016, Moscow imposed a number of restrictive measures, including a ban on food and flower imports, on Ankara in response to the incident. In October 2016, the Russian embargo on Turkish fresh and dried fruits was lifted, but the imports of tomatoes, apples, strawberries, zucchinis, pumpkins and most poultry products are still banned.
