Turkey is going to tighten checks on goods being transported from Russia. The retaliatory move follows similar measures against cargoes from Turkey introduced by Moscow around the time of the Russian invasion of Georgia.The stringent checks on the Russian side of the border have led to long queues, especially for lorries. The original Russian measures were seen as punishment for Turkey’s allowing United States ships into the Black Sea.
Source : Radio Netherlands
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
The Russian Foreign Minister paid a one-day working visit to Turkey on Tuesday where he met his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan in Istanbul. The two ministers had discussed the trade row, recent developments in Caucasus, and Iran and Iraq.
Russia was not discriminating against Turkey in the trade relations between the countries, hit by a recent customs dispute, Lavrov told the joint conference with Babacan, adding Russian customs authorities were working to simplify their bilateral customs system.
Hundreds of trucks transporting Turkish exports to Russia have been held at the country’s checkpoints for up to four weeks, costing exporters billions of dollars in losses.
The row has triggered speculation that Russia is trying to punish Turkey for allowing U.S. warships carrying aid to Georgia to pass through the Bosporus to the Black Sea.
Lavrov, however, denied that stricter Russian controls on Turkish imports are politically motivated, underlining Russia’s commitment to reach the 25-billion-dollars trade volume target in 2008.
He said some countries had breached customs regulations prompting Russian authorities to take more stringent measures.
Babacan said he believed that trade problems between Turkey and Russia would be overcome with a flexible attitude and the cooperation of Russia.
“We discussed in a sincere and constructive way the problems caused by keeping and checking Turkish products at Russian customs gates longer than usual,” Babacan told the conference.
SUPPORT TO CAUCASIAN PLATFORM
Russia also reiterated its support to the Turkey-sponsored idea of forming a Caucasian stability and partnership platform.
“We have also agreed to further develop cooperations (in the Black Sea) such as the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)”, he said.
Turkey had offered to form a Caucasus alliance to contribute peaceful solutions to the conflicts in the region. The alliance is envisaged to bring together Russia, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, though the task seems to be hard given the bilateral issues between these countries.
Lavrov said some conditions should be met in order to take part in such a formation. A similar comment was also made by the Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili who met Babacan on Sunday.
CRITICISM FOR NATO
Turkish and Russian top diplomats also agreed to maintain security and peace in the region, adding that international responsibilities were violated and attacks were staged on South Ossetia.
“Under those circumstances recognition of independence of Ossetia and Abkhazia was the only way out,” Lavrov added. He said recognition would not only protect the security of Abkhazia and South Ossetia but also it would be the only alternative for those people to pursue their existence.
He also reiterated Russia’s support for sending an international police mission to Georgia to help maintain security around South Ossetia and the similarly secessionist region of Abhkazia.
“We are in favor of an international police mission in the security zone, especially in the framework of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe),” the Russian minister said.
Lavrov criticized NATO members for arming Georgia ahead of last months conflict over a rebel region.
“International agreements were violated when Georgia was given arms… In practice, it was NATO countries who were arming (Georgian President Mikheil) Saakashvili,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov said Moscow had no intention of keeping its forces there “forever”.
STRESSING GOOD RELATIONS
Both ministers also underlined the relations between two countries based on friendship and cooperation.
Babacan said the two countries’ have been cooperating on energy, and hoped that new joint projects would be implemented in the future.
“Turkey has a key position in transferring oil and natural gas of Russia and other producer companies in the region to consumer markets safely and economically,” he said.
Lavrov said the relations between two countries are intact and acknowledged Turkey’s responsibilities as a NATO member.
Source : Hurriyet
ANKARA, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) — Visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday denied there is discrimination against Turks in trade issues.At a joint press conference in the Turkish largest city of Istanbul after talks with his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan, Lavrov said “Concrete approaches were assessed and our customs administration proposed a simplified customs system.”
Since last week, Turkish exporters began suffering delays at Russian border crossings. Turkey charged Russia as imposing non-tariff barriers against Turkish exports, saying it was against rules of the World Trade Organization and other international agreements.
Turkey has threatened to retaliate against new Russian import controls that are seen as an attempt to punish Turkey for allowing U.S. warships carrying aid to Georgia to pass through the Turkish straits, which connect the Mediterranean to the Black Sea.
Lavrov said “This is not an action directed against Turkey; Turkey is not being singled out,” stressing “There can be no politics involved in trade.”
He said that Turkey was the top trade partner of Russia, and the target of relations between Turkey and Russia was “cooperation on basis of advanced multilateral partnership.”
Lavrov, who arrived in Istanbul for a working visit, said relations between Turkey and Russia had always been friendly and their investments and cooperation were developing each day.
Meanwhile, Babacan said he believed that trade problems between Turkey and Russia would be overcome with a flexible attitude and cooperation of Russia.
“We discussed in a sincere and constructive way the problems caused by keeping and checking Turkish products at Russian customs gates longer than usual,” the semi-official Anatolia news agency quoted Babacan as saying.
Last year, Turkish exports to Russia were only 4.7 billion U.S. dollars, compared with 23.5-billion-dollars imports from Russia, mainly oil, natural gas and mineral oil.
Babacan defined Turkey and Russia as two neighboring countries, and said that Turkey was seeing Russia as not only a friend and neighbor but also as its main trade and energy partner.
The foreign minister underlined importance of cooperation in energy, and hoped that new joint projects would be implemented in the future.
“Turkey has a key position in transferring oil and natural gas of Russia and other producer companies in the region to consumer markets safely and economically,” he said.
Babacan expressed belief that the cooperation between two countries would contribute to energy supply safety.
Russia is Turkey’s largest trade partner. Trade volume between the two countries was estimated to reach 38 billion U.S. dollars at the end of 2008.
Editor: Mu Xuequan
Source : China view
ANKARA – The foreign ministers of Georgia and Russia are expected to visit Turkey separately in a few days’ time for talks on the escalating crisis in the Caucasus, a government official said Friday.Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan will host his Georgian counterpart Eka Tkeshelashvili on Sunday in Istanbul, two days before he meets Sergei Lavrov of Russia on September 2 in the same city, said the official, who requested anonymity.
There were no plans for a three-way ministerial meeting, he added.
Turkey was put on edge as Russia sent tanks and troops into Georgian territory on August 8, a day after a Georgian offensive to retake the rebel region of South Ossetia.
Tensions increased on Tuesday when Russia recognised South Ossetia and Abkhazia — another secessionist Georgian teritory on the Black Sea — as independent states.
Turkey, which has developed close ties with Georgia, said at the time that it supported its northeastern neighbour’s territorial integrity, but refrained from openly condemning Russia.
Ankara has in recent years worked hard to improve ties with Moscow, which has become an important trading partner and Turkey’s biggest supplier of natural gas.
Russia is on the other hand angry that NATO member Turkey has allowed US and NATO warships through the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits into the Black Sea.
Moscow has accused the Atlantic alliance of building up its forces in the Black Sea and has said it was taking “measures of precaution”.
NATO has denied Russia’s accusations while Turkey says the ships’ passage was in line with the 1936 Montreaux Convention which sets limits for the number and type of military vessels in the Black Sea.
NATO says five ships are currently in the Black Sea for routine exercises planned before the Georgian conflict while two US warships are in Georgia to provide humanitarian aid.
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Source : Turkishpress
By Dorian Jones
Istanbul
Turkey has been playing the role of mediator between various parties in the region: the United States and Iran; Israel and Syria; Pakistan and Afghanistan. But as more U.S. warships pass through the narrow Turkish-controlled strait into the Black Sea to deliver aid to Georgia, a time for choosing sides may have arrived.
Last weekend, U.S. warships used the Turkish straits to deliver aid to Georgia. A Russian official condemned the move and warned Turkey it was obliged to enforce the rules of an agreement that gives a 21 day limit on any warship from a country that does not border the Black Sea.
The Turkish government is responsible for policing the 32-kilometer Bosporus, the only route for ships traveling to the Black Sea, under the Montreux agreement of 1936. The Bosporus provides sole access for ships to Georgia’s Black Sea ports.
International relations expert Soli Ozel of Istanbul’s Bilgi University said this has put Turkey in a precarious position.
“Turkey is a NATO member and is also a neighbor of Georgia’s and great supporter of Georgia both economically and militarily,” he said. “And Turkey controls the passage from and to the Black Sea. Therefore whatever happens next Turkey is going to find itself impacted by the developments.”
Also at stake is Turkey’s trade relations with Russia. Turkey’s trades more goods with Russia than any other country, mostly because of Turkey’s dependence on Russian gas.
“We have very good economic relations with Russia,” said Ozel. “Our trade is over $10 billion and we are overly dependent on Russian gas at 64 percent and 40 percent for Russia oil.”
Turkey has been trying to boost trade with Moscow as it struggles with a current account deficit that’s growing as energy costs soar.
But Russia has introduced new custom regulations which, according to the Turkish trade minister Kursad Tuzmen, could cost Turkey as much as $3 billion. Tuzmen attacked the regulations as political, saying Moscow may be punishing it for allowing the U.S. ships to pass through the Bosporus.
Tuzman said that on September 1 Turkey will impose curbs on Russian exports and withdraw support for its membership of the World Trade Organization.
But a Turkish diplomatic source said that Ankara is determined not to be drawn into the conflict. Much of the Turkish media is also calling for a neutral stance.
With the Turkish prime minister visiting Moscow and Tbilisi, Ankara is now working hard to secure peace. Soli Ozel doesn’t believe such efforts have much chance of success, but still thinks they are important.
“For the moment I see it as an empty shell and as a good will gesture. If anything comes out of it will be good, and if nothing comes out of it no one will blame Turkey,” said Ozel. “It is better than what the Europeans can and would do anyway.”
This weekend Georgia’s foreign minister, Eka Tkeshelashvili, is due to visit Turkey, while his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, is expected next week. While few people give little chance of any breakthrough, experts say the real motive behind such efforts is for Turkey to balance its relations between Russia and the West. But with another U.S. warship headed to the Black Sea this weekend, those efforts are predicted to get increasingly difficult.
Source : Voice of America