Turkish businesspeople focus on Istanbul peace talks to reach $100B trade target with Russia

By Mertkan Oruc and Emir Yildirim

KAZAN, Russia (AA) — The Turkish business community focused on the peace talks in Istanbul to achieve the $100 billion trade volume target with Russia within two years, if positive results came out of the negotiations, a trade representative told Anadolu.

Izzet Ekmekcibasi, chairperson of the Türkiye-Russia Business Council at the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), stated that Russia is at the forefront of oil and petrochemical facilities, while Turkish firms operating in Russia invest in the petrochemical, automotive, and related sectors.

Ekmekcibasi, while attending the Russia-Islamic World: KazanForum event in the northwestern Tatar city of Kazan in Russia, said that some six companies are participating in the event.

“We hope to attract more participants to such events in the future but some of our Turkish firms are cautious due to sanctions on Russia, but we hope the talks in Istanbul will lead to Türkiye-Russia relations to improve significantly if the talks bear fruit,” he said.

“The trade volume between Türkiye and Russia reached $53 billion by the end of 2024 and I believe we have the potential to reach $100 billion within two years,” he added.

Ekmekcibasi stated that the Türkiye-Russia Business Council works on increasing the trade volume by bringing together the companies of both countries.