Turkey and Russia have begun conversations to allow Russian citizens to travel to Turkey without a passport, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlott Tsavusoglou yesterday, noting that a joint group meeting with strategic planning will take place on 29 March.
“We have started meetings to open the way for Russian citizens to come to our country only with their identity without a passport,” he told the Turkish news agency Anadolu Agency. In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree lifting the visa requirements for Turkish passport holders and truck drivers traveling to Russia.
The new rules also apply to Turkish citizens with special short-term passports on business trips, including diplomatic missions, as well as professional drivers carrying freight.
Tsavousoglou added that his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, will travel to Antalya on March 28th to attend the preparatory meeting for the High Level Council meeting to be held in April and attended by government leaders.
The Turkish delegation will travel to Moscow on 8 April, the minister said.
After the conversations in Antalya, the Turkish and Russian Foreign Ministries will sign the 2019-2020 consultation plan.
“A detailed exchange of views on all the issues of the bilateral agenda is planned in preparation for the next meeting of the leaders of the two countries and the upcoming meeting of the High Level Cooperation Council,” said Russian Foreign Minister Maria Zakharova,adding that foreign affairs issues such as the crisis in Syria and Ukraine will also be discussed.
Finally, it is worth noting that Russian tourism in Turkey is “explosive” and that lifting the visa will bring new data.
