Turkey would maintain a balance in its relations with Russia in line with its own interests, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told Milliyet daily on Tuesday. He added there has been a significant cooperation between the two countries on trade and energy.
Turkey could not ignore Russia due to the economic and commercial relations, Erdogan told Milliyet in an interview published on Tuesday, and added his country would pursue a balance based on its national interests.
“It would not be right for Turkey to be pushed towards any side (of the conflict),” the Turkish prime minister said. “Certain circles want to push Turkey into a corner either with the United States or Russia after the Georgian incident.”
“One of the sides is our closest ally, the United States. The other side is Russia with which we have an important trade volume. We would act in line with what Turkey’s national interests require,” he added.
Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said Monday Turkey started to subject Russian goods to detailed searches at border posts in retaliation for the extensive inspections holding up Turkish trucks in Russian customs.
Turkey’s council of ministers, however, has rejected the custom restrictions demanded for Russian export goods, while Turkey’s Government spokesman Cemil Cicek said he hoped recent trade problems between Turkey and Russia would be resolved during Lavrov’s visit to Turkey.
Speculation is rife in Turkey, a NATO member, that the Russian move is linked to Turkish support for neighboring Georgia, and especially Ankara’s decision to allow U.S. warships to pass through the Turkish Straits into the Black Sea to deliver humanitarian aid to Tbilisi.
Russia was the largest market outside the European Union for Turkish goods last year, with $4.9 billion of exports.
Trade volume between Turkey and Russia, the largest market outside the European Union for Turkish goods in 2007, is estimated to reach $38 billion at the end of 2008. Turkish exports to Russia reached $4.7 billion in 2007 consists mostly of the sale of automobiles, citrus fruits, tomatoes, synthetic thread, textiles and jewelry.
Turkey imported mostly oil, natural gas and mineral oil from Russia worth $23.5 billion for the same period. Turkey meets nearly two-thirds of its total natural gas needs from this country.
Source : Hurriyet
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