Relations between Türkiye and the Russian Federation rest on a rich
historical heritage. New opportunities and perspectives for cooperation
emerged after the end of the Cold War. Following a rapid development of
economic cooperation in the 1990’s, bilateral relations entered a new phase
in early 2000’s with the close dialogue between the leaderships of the two
countries, and attained an institutional character with the establishment
of the High Level Cooperation Council (HLCC) in 2010.
Turkish-Russian relations, which followed a course of cooperation in
bilateral context, faced a serious test as a result of military activities
related to the Syrian crisis. However, in line with the mutual desire of
Turkish and Russian peoples, a normalization process was launched. In this
context, an intense bilateral political dialogue has been re-established
since the second half of 2016.
Economic and trade relations constitute the driving force behind
Turkish-Russian relations. Russia, has been one of the most important trade
partners of Türkiye. Trade volume between two states has reached 26,309
billion USD in 2019, with Türkiye’s 3,854 billion USD worth of exports and
22,454 billion USD imports. Total number of 1972 projects with a total
value of over 75,7 billion dollars have been realized so far by the Turkish
contractors in Russia, while reciprocal investments have reached 10 billion
dollars each.
Energy constitutes one of the most important elements of relations between
Türkiye and Russia. With TurkStream and Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant projects,
cooperation in the field of energy is being carried further with Russia,
which is among our leading energy suppliers. TurkStream Natural Gas
Pipeline has been inaugurated on 8 January 2020.
Cooperation in the field of tourism between Türkiye and Russia constitutes
another important aspect of bilateral relations. With more than 7 million
Russian tourists in 2019, a new record was broken. Russian tourists are the
first among the tourists visiting Türkiye in recent years.
Türkiye has an Embassy in Moscow, Consulates-General in St. Petersburg,
Kazan and Novorossisk and an Honorary Consulate in Ekaterinburg. The
Russian Federation has an Embassy in Ankara, Consulates-General in
Istanbul, Antalya and Trabzon, and an Honorary Consulate in İzmir.