FEB. 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russia’s agricultural watchdog accused Azerbaijan of re-exporting potatoes from Turkey to Russia to help their Turkish allies beat Russian sanctions.
This is the first time that Russia has accused a country from Central Asia and the South Caucasus, which have loyalties to both the Kremlin and Ankara, of helping Turkey dodge sanctions imposed last year after a Turkish fighter-jet shot down a Russian fighter-jet over Syria.
“After inspecting the food shipments coming from Azerbaijan and Iran to ensure their commitment to Russia’s decision to prevent the import of agricultural products from Turkey, we have noted that Azerbaijan has doubled its potato shipments to our country by five times since last January,” Sergei Dankvet, head of the agricultural watchdog, told media.
He also said Russia had complained to Azerbaijan and warned it of potential consequences. Companies in the Baltics have previously used Central Asia to skip EU sanctions to send their dairy goods to Russia.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 269, published on Jan. 26 2016)