ANKARA (Sputnik) — The Russian Foreign Ministry has received proposals to introduce visa-free regime for Turkish service passport holders and heavy vehicle drivers and these issues will soon be coordinated, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said.
"We positively assess the introduction of a visa-free regime for Turkish citizens. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already received proposals to abolish the need to obtain visas for holders of service passports and drivers of heavy vehicles. We are optimistic about the speedy completion of this process," Novak told Anadolu news agency in Kazan, where a meeting of the Russian-Turkish intergovernmental commission was held.
In late May, Russian President Vladimir Putin expanded the list of categories of Turkish citizens entitled to visa-free travel to Russia and granted such a right to members of Turkey's aircraft crews, as well as Turkish nationals, who have valid service passports and are sent to Russia for short-term business trips, including to Turkish diplomatic missions and consular offices in Russia.
