Lifting of visa regime with Russia is very important for Turkey as about 3 million Russian tourists visit the country annually, Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu said at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. He stressed that Turkey hopes to remove visa regime with Russia later this year.

According to Lavrov, all legal processes are completed in Russia. “As soon as the Turkish side is ready we will officially announce that visa regime is annulled,” he said.

As to economic cooperation, Lavrov noted Turkey and Russia are planning to increase their bilateral annual trade turnover to $100 billion, RIA Novosti reported.