Words of praise addressed to Putin mean that Erdogan’s expectations weren’t met, expert on Turkey says

“Judging from Erdogan’s speech following the meeting [with Russian President, Vladimir Putin], he wasn’t very excited and looked utterly depressed. And the words of praise addressed to Putin mean that Erdogan’s expectations weren’t met,” expert on Turkey, Hakob Chakryan said during a press conference.

According to him, Erdogan wanted to restore Russian-Turkish relationship rapidly in both economic and political terms. “As a result of the Russian embargo, Turkey had suffered a loss of USD 22-23 billion. In 2013, Turkey exported USD 1.3 billion worth goods to Russia, in 2014 – USD 1.8 billion, while in 2016 the total merchandise export amounted to USD 80 million.”

Besides, according to Hakob Chakryan, 2 million tourists from Russia visit Turkey annually and spend about USD 1.5-1.7 billion.