Turkey's shoe exports to Russia in the first three months of this year have increased by 188 percent compared to the same period last year, the Aegean Exporters Association (EİB) announced Friday.

The amount of shoe exports to Russia reached $53 million in the first quarter of this year, a statement by the association said.

The shoe exports of Turkey, which holds an important position in global shoes production, saw an increase of 27 percent, reaching $281 million in the January-March period compared to the same period last year, EİB said.

In this period, shoe exports to Russia, which is one of the most important markets in the sector, have attracted attention.

Turkish businessmen, who carried out shoe exports amounting to $18.4 million to Russia in the first three months of 2017, saw this figure rising by 188 percent in the same period this year, reaching $53 million.

Jak Geliko, chairman of the board of directors of the Aegean Leather and Leather Products Exporters Association, said in a statement that the sector's exports, which were $131 million in 2002, reached $769 million by the end of 2017.

Indicating that the majority of exports in the leather sector consist of shoes, Galiko said: "The Turkish shoe sector is able to reach an export figure of $1 billion alone at the end of 2018."