According to Has, economic relations between Russia and Turkey depend on cooperation between the countries on the Syrian issue.
"After a missile attack launched by US President Donald Trump on a Syrian air base, the Turkish government openly expressed its support for US actions. It is likely that this rapprochement between Turkey and the United States has troubled Russia," the expert noted.
In his opinion, Turkey "very much hoped" for a possible overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"I believe that this behavior of Turkey influenced the position of Russia regarding the lifting of all restrictions in trade with Turkey," Has said.
After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Moscow on March 10, both sides expected mutual sanctions to be lifted.
"But this did not happen," the expert noted. "Russia had imposed restrictions on 23 types of products, and only nine of them were lifted. However, restrictions on the most significant products, namely, on tomatoes and cucumbers, are still in place. In response, Turkey imposed restrictions on Russian sunflower and wheat.
The expert believes that Russia expects a "more predictable foreign policy from Turkey," especially on the Syrian issue.
"A number of steps made by the Russian side, in particular, a statement on the possible cancellation of charter flights after the referendum, are a precautionary measure if Turkey decides to turn toward the US and move away from a close cooperation with Russia," the expert concluded.
