ANKARA, September 1. /TASS/. Turkey will be able to process an additional million tons of grain from Russia and export it, Professor Haluk Gedikoglu from the Konya Food and Agriculture University told TASS.
"Turkey has necessary infrastructure and facilities for processing 1 mln tons of grain from Russia in addition to the volumes that have already been loaded on its plants. This is not going to become a difficult task. Grain will be processed into flour and Turkey will be able to export it to countries in need," he said when commenting on a respective initiative by the Russian side.
"Turkey’s production, processing capacities total around 27 mln tones of grain per day. In 2022, it exported about 3 mln tons of flour. An additional million tones of Russian wheat may be processed," the expert noted.
Meanwhile, he expressed doubt that Ankara will join the grain initiative without receiving a certain approval from the US’ side. "The country’s economy is still strongly exposed to crises that may be triggered by the US. Turkey does not need the US’ opinion only if this grain is used for satisfying its own needs. In the remaining cases approval will be required. In the current situation I don’t think Ankara will need a conflict with Washington," Gedikoglu concluded.