Erdogan: I believe Putin wants the grain deal to continue

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who spoke in Istanbul before his 3-day Gulf tour covering Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, made statements before the visit.

Stating that “Despite the statement made today, I believe that Russian President Putin wants this humanitarian bridge to continue,” Erdogan said about the grain corridor that ended today, and that he could talk to Putin on the phone before August if necessary.

Stating that the bilateral trade volume with the Gulf countries has increased from 1.6 billion dollars to approximately 22 billion dollars in the last 20 years, Erdoğan reminded that more than 33 million tons of grain products were shipped to the world markets with the grain agreement. Thanking all parties involved, Erdogan said, “Despite the statement made today, I believe that Russian President Putin wants this humanitarian bridge to continue. I will also meet with Mr. Putin on my return from my visit.

You know, there is a committee in Istanbul that carries out studies on the grain corridor. But today, my foreign minister will have a meeting with his interlocutor, and with this meeting, I hope that we will get some speed and continue on our way without interruption. Maybe we will take steps by making a phone call with Mr. Putin without waiting for August,” he said.

“Two reasons to visit”

Noting that Saudi Arabia has a special position in the field of contracting, Erdogan said, “There is 25 billion dollars worth of work being done there. We want Turkish companies to play a greater role.”

Stating that the Gulf countries can buy some assets in Turkey, Erdogan said, “This visit has two main topics, one is investments, another is finance, and we have a lot of hope from both.” Erdoğan said, “But as some acrobats say, BOTAŞ is not to be sold. We know very well what to buy and sell,” he added.