MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/. Ankara suggests that all restrictions on trade with Moscow should be abandoned to deepen the two countries’ commercial ties, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview with TASS.

"We need to abandon all restrictions on trade to deepen our commercial relations. We are jointly working hard towards that goal through major projects in energy and defense. But we should also keep an eye on improving business relations at the micro and macro levels," he said.

According to the minister, Russia is currently Turkey’s primary trade partner in the areas of energy, mutual investments, tourism, agriculture, and other sectors.

The relations between Moscow and Ankara worsened after Russia’s Su-24 jet taking part in an anti-terrorism operation in Syria was downed by the Turkish Air Force on November 4, 2015. On November 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree imposing special economic measures against Turkey. On January 1, 2016, the bulk of sanctions against Turkey came into effect. Particularly, Moscow temporarily banned or restricted imports of certain types of goods produced in Turkey.

On May 3, 2017, Moscow and Ankara agreed to remove restrictions on fruits and vegetables, except for tomatoes.