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Foreign Minister Wraps Up Turkish Visit
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov returned from his visit to Turkey yesterday. The main topics of his talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan were recent events in the Caucasus and problems in the economic relations between the two countries, mainly new Russian customs rules that are having a negative impact on deliveries of Turkish goods. This was the second visit by Lavrov to Turkey in three months. “The political is developing at a rapid pace,” he commented in Istanbul.
Several Turkish politicians have called for retaliatory measures against Russia in response to new Russian customs rules. Turkish truckers delivering goods to Russia through third countries have been the main victims of the new rules. Many Turkish trucks have lined up at Russian border crossings and Turkey estimates that losses of $3 billion have resulted in the countries’ $38-billion annual trade turnover.
Several experts have suggested that the new measures are punishment for Ankara’s position in the conflict in the Caucasus. Moscow has repeatedly denied those allegations, pointing out that they went into effect at the end of June. Turkish media remain unconvinced, however. Calls for retaliatory measures against Russia have not found support in the Turkish government. Russia is one of the country’s main trading partners. Russia provides 29 percent of the oil used in Turkey and 63 percent of the natural gas. Lavrov promised continuing consultations on the situation.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 03, 2008
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