Minister of Economy Zafer on Russia: We don’t Regret, We are Sad

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Minister of Economy, Nihat Zeybekçi with respect to Turkey-Russia ties has made the statement, “Apologizing is a whole different thing in terms of diplomacy. We don’t regret, we are sad. They have to be sad as well”.

Zeybekçi answered the questions of İhlas News Agency and TGRT Haber (News) Ankara Representative, Batuhan Yaşar.

Letters from Erdoğan and Yıldırım

Zeybekçi made the following statement as to the letters President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım sent to their counterparts:

“In fact the letters don’t have any significance, they are routine letters which are sent to congratulate due to the national day [Russian Day] but it draws attention because of this unusual period.

“It is not sustainable for neither country”

The Minister Zeybekçi spoke as follows as to the economic relations:

“This is not a sustainable situation for neither country. But if you ask who will suffer more damage […] it is obvious that we are negatively affected in both tourism and export but Russia will and continue to suffer more. That’s why, common tells this has to be fixed as soon as possible”.

Zeybekçi concluded that Turkey was right in the shooting down Russian jet incident, however they “feel sad” though they “don’t regret it”. (AS/TK)