The Association of Tour Operators in Russia (ATOR) announced Tuesday that 2.35 million tourists from Russia have visited Turkey so far this year.

The high increase in Russian tourist flow this year exceeded the figures from 2015, coming close to the 2014 record level.

"A total of 2.35 million Russian tourists have visited Turkey until mid-August this year. The Russian market surpassed its 2015 volume, getting close to 2014 indicators," ATOR said in a written statement.

According to ATOR, 3.3 million Russian tourists visited Turkey in 2014; while data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) suggest that 4.5 million Russian vacationed in Turkey the same year.

Russia plays an important role in Turkey's tourism sector as the country leads the list of foreign visitors coming to the country.

Provisional data from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed this month that Russian tourists regained their leading position after two years of decline due to a diplomatic tension between the two countries, which emerged after the downing of a Russian jet for violating the borders of Turkish airspace in November 2015.