Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Russia hit an all-time low in November 2015 after the downing of a Russian jet near the Syrian border after it violated Turkish airspace. With joint efforts by the two countries bilateral relations have thawed recently, however, the same cannot be said for economic relations.Tensions over business relations, especially import and export, continue as Turkey reportedly decided to put the purchase of six food products from Russia, worth $1.3 billion, on hold, according to Turkish daily Dünya, citing Moscow's delay over removal of sanctions on Turkish exports.Following Turkey's decision, in an initial reaction the Kremlin said its Ministry of Agriculture was canceling a Russian delegation's visit to Turkey scheduled for April. The resumption of political negotiations between Moscow and Ankara signaled the removal of export-import embargoes, particularly on food products, between the two countries.This expectation came to the fore when a large Turkish delegation headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Moscow earlier this month. One of Turkey's biggest expectations during the Turkey-Russia High Level Cooperation Council (HLLC) meeting was the elimination of restrictions on agricultural products altogether.However, restrictions lifted on Feb. 14 were valid only for some products such as onions, cauliflower and broccoli, while embargoes related to products such as tomatoes, apples, grapes, and pomegranate continued. The total value of the products from which restrictions were lifted was less than $20 million. The eyes of the Turkish farmers were on fresh vegetables and fruits worth hundreds of millions of dollars.Nevertheless, the expectation was not met and Turkey responded with a move against Moscow by stopping its purchase of six food products, worth around $1.3 billion, including corn, wheat, crude sunflower oil, sunflower meal, peas and rice.In reaction to the decision, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture in a statement said the Turkish side should cancel the restrictions imposed on the products obtained from Russia, in order to discuss the removal of those on Turkey in whole or in part. In fact, the plan to send a delegation to Turkey, which could take the decision to remove some of the restrictions, has been canceled.Among reactions from Russia, the most striking came from the Russian Federal Veterinary and Plant Health Inspection Service (Rosselkhoznadzor). Rosselkhoznadzor, the agricultural products inspection agency, which said it wanted to set up an agricultural company in Turkey to grow its own products and "provide food safety," announced that they were not planning to lift the ban on the purchase of tomatoes, cucumbers, apples and pears from Turkey.Tomatoes and wheat: The most affected items amid the tensionTurkey's share of world tomato exports is 4.5 percent. Moreover, 62 percent of Turkey's total vegetable exports are tomatoes. Russia's decision to implement sanctions on agricultural products from Turkey since the beginning of 2016 has affected tomato producers the most.The value of the tomatoes Turkey sold Russia in 2015 was $259 million. In 2016, this figure was only $87,000.In addition, the sales of seedless grapes also stopped. In short, sales totaling $70 million in 2015 were zero in 2016 while the loss in pomegranate was 77 percent with sales of $35 million in 2015 falling to $8.2 million.The Turkish exports of raw vegetables and fruits to Russia, which were $875 million, decreased by 62 percent to $331 million.