ANKARA: Russian citizens topped the list of foreign nationals entering Turkey through border gates in 2018, according to the Turkish Interior Ministry on Thursday.
Officials from the ministry’s Directorate General of Migration Management told Anadolu Agency that nearly 6 million Russians came to Turkey last year.
They were followed by over 4.4 million German citizens and more than 2.4 million Bulgarians. Russia was the first on the list in 2017 as well — with over 4.7 million visitors.
Turkey also hosted a total of 39,468,492 foreigners who entered the country via land, air, sea or railways in 2018. In 2017, the number was over 32 million.
Turkey and Russia have been enjoying friendly bilateral ties in the recent years, which is strengthened with reciprocal visits from the presidents of the both nations, as well as cooperation on energy.
Last year, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had seven one-on-one meetings and 18 phone calls. The last meeting of the duo took place in Moscow on Wednesday.
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