In numbers ... an accelerated economic partnership between Turkey and Russia

Zaher Albik-Ankara

Despite the many political differences between Turkey and Russia in the regional files, the economic dimension and its positive impact on their relationship has had the most prominent role in promoting and strengthening the partnership between the two parties.

In light of the opening of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, the Turkish Torrent project for the transportation of Russian gas through Turkey to Europe, economic ties have become a major guarantor of the continuation of this relationship, in light of an accelerated economic partnership between the two countries on the commercial, tourism and investment levels, in addition to energy projects.

According to the Turkish Central Bank, the bilateral trade relationship between Russia and Turkey has evolved significantly in the last three decades, as the volume of Turkish imports from Russia increased from 3.87 billion dollars in 2000 to 18.6 billion dollars in 2018, and the volume of Turkish exports to Russia increased from 639 million Dollars in 2000, to reach $ 3.4 billion in 2018.

Commenting on these figures, Turkish economic specialist Ahmed Musabih mentioned that, given the development of these figures, we find that Russia is the party that benefits most from its trade relationship with Turkey, especially since Turkey's trade deficit with Russia amounts to 23% of Turkey's total trade deficit, due to The impact of energy imports on this deficit.

rapprochement
Musabeh told Al-Jazeera Net that the trade figures and statistics indicate that the relationship between the two parties needs a lot of steps and convergence in order to become more durable, indicating that the European Union is still Turkey's strategic commercial partner, and controls the lion's share in the trade relationship between Turkey and the world, as it acquires On about 57% of Turkish exports, amounting to $ 168 billion in 2018.

In the same context, economic analysts said that Russia has become an important option for military deals if it fails with the West, for example the Russian Air Defense S-400 deal, noting that Turkey is Russia's seventh trading partner and the second largest export market after Germany.

Investment partnership
The economic specialist, Musabah, affirmed that the energy agreements and projects signed between the two parties in recent years had a role in the continuation and cohesion of relations between the two parties, especially after the signing of the Turkish Stream project (Turk Stream), which aims to transfer Russia's gas to Europe via Turkish territory.

The Turkish press described the Turkish Torrent project as the huge economic project that aims to build pipelines to transport natural gas from Russia to Europe through Turkey, passing through the Black Sea to the Turkish mainland, to end at the Turkish-Greek border, where huge gas deposits are established, and then supplied to consumers in eastern Europe And in the middle.

The source of the Turkish Torrent Project was considered one of the most important projects for Turkey, as it works to reduce the bill for its gas and energy imports, which would positively reflect on the Turkish economy, especially in light of the negative impact of energy imports on the trade balance and exacerbating the current account deficit crisis for Turkey.

"The project makes Turkey a major station for gas lines in the world, and an important player in this sector, which gives it more space on the political scene and works to reduce transportation costs and the surrounding geopolitical risks, and provides 53% of Turkey's gas needs."

tourism
The Turkish Central Bank classifies Russia as one of the most important destinations for Turkish construction companies. In 2014, Turkish construction companies implemented 277 projects in 44 countries, valued at $ 22.8 billion, of which about 15% were in Russia.

According to the Turkish Ministry of Tourism, the number of Russian tourists coming to Turkey in 2019 through November was 6.8 million, which represents 14% of the total number of tourists coming to Turkey during the past year of 42 million.

On these statistics, Musabeh mentioned that Russian tourists top the list of tourists coming to Turkey in recent years, as Russian tourists have a prominent role in the growth of the tourism sector in them.

He concluded his speech by stressing that all these data reinforce and show the size of the relationship between the two countries and the course of their strategic relations, especially in light of the widening gap between Turkey and European countries.