Political zucchini

The last Turkish vegetables disappear from Russian counters, Russian tourists from Turkish resorts

On May 16, the Rosselkhoznadzor intends to prohibit the import of Turkish zucchini, lemons and grapefruits into Russia - the latter that remained in the list of permitted to this moment . Moscow calls the main reason for the cessation of their supply, as usual, violations of phytosanitary standards and denies political motives - as in the case of severe restrictions for Russian tourists who want to relax in Turkish resorts. All decisions in Russia to prohibit the import of Turkish vegetables and fruits, and on the break in perennial tourist ties were accepted immediately after the Turkish Air Force shot down the Russian Su-24 Russian bombing in the area of the Turkish-Syrian border in November 2015.

The beginning of the tourist season of 2016 in Turkey can hardly be called promising, writes the Istanbul newspaper Milliyet , quoting the general director of the Turkish Tourism Union (PAK) Musa Uyar, which gives sad statistics: industry revenues decreased by 8.28 percent compared to last year. In the near future, 500 thousand workers of the tourism sector may be left without work. The official emphasized that if the situation does not change, the profit from tourism in 2017 and 2018 will be rapidly reduced. Such a decline in Turkey has not been observed over the past 15 years.

"Who will be the winner in the current Russian-Turkish conflict?" -The Turkish Internet portal Sondakika asks. First of all, Türkiye, its industry and the service sector-because of the sanctions imposed by Vladimir Putin. However, it resembles the publication, they also affected Russian tour operators who are recommended not to work in the Turkish direction, which will certainly affect both Russian business and the average consumer. However, the Kremlin considers all this with minor losses in comparison with the economic damage caused by Ankara.

Deserted beaches of Turkish Antalya

From the consequences of the Russian-Turkish exacerbation of relations now, with the beginning of the tourist season, both parties suffer, primarily ordinary buyers, tourists and consumers of services, confirms the Executive Director of the Association of Russian Tour operators Maya Lomidze :

- Russian tourists still remained in Turkey? Or are they no longer there?

- We have no information about Russian citizens who are in Turkey for tourist purposes. We can say with all responsibility that there are definitely no customers of tour operators there. Independent tourists can travel to Turkey, if they consider it possible for themselves, safe, affordable in price, but in our statistics they are not.

- Türkiye has always been a traditional place for the beach summer vacation of Russian tourists. Where will they rest this summer?

- Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Vietnam, Thailand and the Russian Black Sea coast, Krasnodar Territory, Crimea. Apparently, in this way the potential Turkish, as well as the Egyptian stream, will be distributed, because both countries are not in the Russian market this summer. But we can already say with a high degree of probability that some part of the tourists who used to go to Turkey and Egypt, this summer, due to the lack of funds, will not go anywhere.

- At the resorts of the countries you have listed, Russians will rest in the same conditions and at the same price as in Turkey? Or will there be a difference?

Street in Antalya. May 2016

- There is certainly some difference. But in Greece, and in Bulgaria, and in Cyprus there are conditions close to Turkish, both in terms of price and in terms of a set of services.

- Have the income of the tourism industry in Russia decreased compared to last year?

- Undoubtedly. The crisis continues, the number of consumers in the outbound tourism segment does not increase, and of course, this affects the profitability of the tourism business. Russian tour operators are prohibited from selling tours to Turkey - there is a direct ban, in the presidential decree. Therefore, for business, these are certain losses, serious. But the business has become very maneuverable over the past two years. The tour operator community had to endure many different sudden blows, so they adapt somehow, look for alternative directions, look for other options for providing services, ”says Maya Lomidze .

Half -crackers today shops of Turkish Antalya

In 2014-2015, the amount of mutual trade between Russia and Turkey reached $ 40-45 billion. And most of all in Russia today, Sondakika believes, regions with the Turkic population - Tatarstan and Bashkortostan will suffer economically. According to estimates by the American analytical company IHS, which the publication refers, Tatarstan may lose Turkish investment with a size of $ 1.5 billion if projects carried out by Turkish workers and businessmen are prohibited. Such circumstances force Turkey to search for alternatives to Russian markets in all directions, writes Sondakika. While Russia is trying to establish relations with the countries of Central Asia, the goal of Ankara, apparently, is to increase exports, including capital, to the European Union and the Far East.

The Hurriyet newspaper expresses more optimistic views on its pages. The crisis in relations with Russia will not continue for a long time, says the chairman of the Council on Foreign Economic Relations of Turkey (Deik) Omer Jihad Vardan , quoted by the publication:

- Both of our countries are important trading partners, there are serious mutual investments. We have 20 thousand mixed Turkish-Russian families. All this indicates how deep our bilateral relations are that cannot be ignored. Russia's decision to take certain measures against Turkey, of course, bothers us. But we do not think that it will last long. Russia sells us gas; We bring her impressive income. Russia also depends on us. When we conduct diversification in the future and our dependence will decrease, the Russians will also have to think seriously.

Turkish tomatoes now inaccessible to Russians

"The Russian authorities are waging a product war against Turkey and intend to completely supplant Turkish food products from the Russian market" - these are the typical daily headlines of most Turkish newspapers. The Turkish media reports on the arrest of parties of goods and holding Russian entrepreneurs accountable, who, contrary to the prohibitions of the authorities, brought to Russia the next party of "ideologically harmful" Turkish food products. In many residents of Turkey, demonstrative acts of destruction of products cause a real shock. Conservative Muslims offer to think about the ethical side of the issue. Many do not hide their indignation in that the products are destroyed in a country that survived the war and hunger. “From the point of view of religion, the destruction of any food is a terrible sin,” says a forty -year -old farmer Aihan . “There are too many needy and starving people around who lack the most necessary products”:

- The Russian authorities built a real cordon in order to prevent the penetration of Turkish products into the country. Border guards check Turkish trucks, send allegedly infected vegetables and fruits. Manufacturers call all accusations far -fetched and claim that they supply only environmentally friendly products to the Russian market.

Another farmer Aksai says that after the introduction of Russian sanctions, Turkish manufacturers fell into a difficult position. The supply of vegetables is completely stopped. Trucks with products returned back to their homeland. Turkish refrigerators and warehouses were clogged with perishable vegetables and fruits. Product prices fell sharply, manufacturers said they would fly into the pipe and could not pay more on loans. Many farmers threw a grown harvest and went to Istanbul in search of at least some work:

The purchase of Turkish vegetables and fruits increased the countries of Europe and the Middle East, in particular Saudi Arabia

-The purchase of Turkish vegetables and fruits increased the countries of Europe and the Middle East, in particular, Saudi Arabia, which experienced their lack due to crop failures last year. Part of the grown, however, at lower prices, agreed to acquire Ukraine, which, after the beginning of the Russian-Turkish conflict, for obvious reasons, demonstrated its friendly location.

To help the agricultural sector, the Turkish authorities announced the beginning of the campaign under the slogan "Eat ourselves." The government promised to help manufacturers and send part of the processing harvest for the production of juices, ketchup and tomato paste. Calling to patriotic feelings, the Turks are called upon to drink even unpopular tomato juice in the country. The colorful advertising of this unusual product for Turks also helped. Istanbul economist Aktai Altynkak , however, skeptical:

- The laws of the market are stronger than politics. The authorities wanted to control the country that already lived according to the laws of a market economy with their orders. The movement of Turkish goods to Russia through neighboring countries began. The first to blow were citrus fruits, which were ripened by the end of November-just by the beginning of the Russian-Turkish crisis. Turkish trucks with tangerines then idle at customs in the hope that the Russian authorities would form and cancel the embargo. However, realizing that this would not happen, their owners returned the goods back, sometimes simply destroyed it. But gradually all the surviving products went to neighboring countries. Everyone wanted to earn money, and there is nothing surprising in the fact that Turkish mandarins prohibited for import into Russia mixed with produced in another country and went to Russian markets.

Some of these vegetables on the market counter in Baku-originally from Turkey

After the embargo was introduced, “disgraced” Turkish tomatoes went to Azerbaijan - in recent months, their supplies increased there several times. Contracts were in advance, sometimes businessmen simply agreed on the phone, bypassing long official legal negotiations. But why are there so many vegetables and fruits to Azerbaijan? Obviously, local entrepreneurs decided to use the food crisis in neighboring Russia with the benefit of the benefit. The Turkish news portal Haber wrote that after the start of the embargo, Azerbaijan increased the volume of tomato supplies to Russia by five times. This information was confirmed by Russian sources , reporting that the Russian authorities suspect Azerbaijani suppliers of illegal re -export. The Azerbaijani authorities denied all the accusations. Continues the economist Aktai Altynkak :

- Azerbaijan is no less actively selling with Russia the same groups of agricultural products. Immediately after the start of the Turkish crisis, the authorities of this country reported to quickly compensate for Turkish tomatoes on the Russian market - and instead offered their own. Yes, some share of growth in export to Russia may account for Azerbaijani products, but not all.

In addition, Azerbaijan reduced twenty percent tariffs for ferry vehicles through Caspians for trucks from Turkey traveling to Kazakhstan and vice versa. Such a step was accepted at the request of the Turkish side after the ban on the entry of her trucks to Russia. As a result, the Turks received a new cheap route for transporting their products. According to Istanbul entrepreneur Ahmed Kaya , a stream of cars with cargoes at a ferry crossing between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan this winter has increased several times:

"Refusable" Turkish vegetables and fruits go first to Azerbaijan, from there transit to Kazakhstan and then get to Russia

- The countries of the Eurasian Economic Community, which includes, in addition to Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, did not join Russian sanctions against Turkey. Their borders with Russia are open. They continue to trade with both countries and make solid profits. "Refusable" Turkish vegetables and fruits go first to Azerbaijan, from there transit to Kazakhstan and then get to Russia.

To preserve the clientele and the rich Russian market, Turkish manufacturers are ready to take risk. The Hurriyet newspaper claimed that jewelry manufacturers, in order to circumvent hard Russian bans, establish production in neighboring Armenia, despite the lack of diplomatic relations between countries. Jewelry workshops in this country have long -standing traditions and attract cheaper labor. In addition, family ties contribute to cooperation: most Turkish jewelry companies have long been in the hands of ethnic Armenians. Such firms, according to some estimates, control about seventy percent of this market.

Owners of gold workshops are reluctant to speak with journalists, fearing the sanctions of the Turkish authorities. Here is what the representative of the company "Jetash" said on the terms of anonymity:

The entrance to the most famous in Turkey is a large bazaar of Istanbul, where dozens of jewelry stores are located

- There is no official ban on Turkish gold. However, the unnecessary war continues between the countries. Russian customs raises duties and arranges goods checks. Because of this, direct export was reduced or completely confused. Jewelers from Istanbul, mainly of Armenian origin, open production in Armenia partly due to cheaper labor. From there, they sell gold to Russia and other post -Soviet states.

Belarus was the “champion” of re -export, which sold Turkish fruits under the guise of its own products in Russia, which were on fake certificates. Türkiye denied its participation in the "gray" schemes for promoting goods to Russia. In response to the requests of Rosselkhoznadzor about the possible illegal supply of Turkish goods, Ankara said that she had not issued fake certificates of her products and could not be responsible for the actions of another state.