Turkey’s top fresh fruit and vegetable exports were over $2 billion in 2020. In the first quarter of 2021, the number reached over $700 million, which indicated a 22% increase compared to 2020. The pandemic conditions provided essential opportunities for Turkey in this industry. However, many countries have lost significant portions of their production capacities while the need for food has increased constantly.
The Key Importer
Russia is the top importer of Turkish fruits and vegetables, with an over $200 million volume in recent years. The largest country by area has a population of almost 150 million, and the harsh weather conditions force the government to import fruits and vegetables more and more every year. Therefore, trading with Russia provides a remarkable advantage for Turkey; Iraq and Romania are the other two critical importers for Turkey.
Turkey and Russia have a complicated relationship, in which trade becomes the key player. Russia wants to make Turkey a market for its national security equipment, and the sale of the S-400 air protection system to Turkey was the first step towards that goal.
Unstable Relationships
Their relation always comes under the spotlight because Turkey is a member of NATO, where purchasing security systems from Russia is considered a security bug. However, the main reason behind Turkey’s move is that the nation has unstable international relations. After the armed coup against the government in 2016, the Turkish government criticized the EU member countries and the US harshly for supporting the terrorist groups in Turkey. The decision to purchase S-400 missiles from Russia was a part of this term policy. On the other hand, Turkish president Erdogan announced that the country has strived to be an EU member and developed relations with the US.
Russian President Putin wants to further increase Russia’s agricultural imports by another 50% over the next three years to achieve his ambitious economic development targets. Meanwhile, experts don’t expect a dramatic increase in export volumes anytime soon, pointing to the Kremlin’s recent tax hike on agricultural exports as it attempts to keep excess food supplies at home amid rapidly accelerating prices.
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