After visa requirements lifted, Russian tourist numbers expected to swell to 4 million

Following the lifting of visa requirements between Turkey and Russia, the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey could swell to 4 million, predicted Russian Ambassador to Turkey Vladimir Ivanovskiy yesterday. "Last year 3 million Russian tourists visited Turkey," said the ambassador in Samsun, visiting Governor Huseyin Aksoy. "Now with visa-free travel, we expect that number will rise to at least 4 million." He added, "Under bilateral agreements signed by our President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, we should raise our trade volume to the $100 billion level."