By DailySabah News
Turkey and Russia declared 2019 as tourism year to boost the number of Russian visitors to Turkey and Turkish visitors to Russia, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Wednesday during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
“We have broad cooperation with Russia in the areas of economy, trade, culture and industry and our collaboration is particularly spearheaded by the tourism sector,” President Erdoğan said.
For the last two years, Russian tourists top the list of foreign visitors coming to Turkey. Last year, approximately 6 million Russians took their vacations in Turkey.
Erdoğan also stressed that visa exemption was on the agenda of the meeting and the amelioration of ties will be further facilitated. “The full visa exemption will cement the ties between the Turkish and the Russian people,” he said. The President also noted that the Akkuyu and TurkStream projects are progressing with solid and firm steps.
Russian President Putin also stressed that Turkey and Russia agreed on cooperation to increase bilateral tourism relations.
Russian President Vladımır Putin said the bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Russia has reached $23 billion in the first 11 months of 2018, an 18 percent year-on-year increas
