Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 12
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Turkey and Russia can use their national currencies in mutual trade, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters speaking on his visit to Russia, Haberturk newspaper reported Aug. 12.
Erdogan believes the use of national currencies in trade, instead of US dollar, will benefit both Russia and Turkey.
Turkish president intends to increase the trade turnover with Russia up to record figure of $100 billion. He voiced this intention after negotiations with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin Aug. 9 in St. Petersburg.
“We reached the trade turnover of $35 billion, but after the November 2015 events it dropped to $28 billion, then even lower,” said Erdogan. “We have such a mechanism as the high level of cooperation, which involves the strategic cooperation between the two countries.”
“We had a goal to achieve the turnover of $100 billion,” he added. “It is topical and we again want to achieve it with the help of this mechanism.”
The trade turnover between Turkey and Russia amounted to $8 billion in 1H 2016, while the figure was $10-11 billion in the same period of 2015.
Turkey’s trade turnover with Russia totaled $23 billion in 2015, according to Turkish Statistical Institute.
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