Erdogan echoes Putin's gripes over grain exports

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday he wanted grain from Russia to be exported too, adding Vladimir Putin was right to complain that grain from Ukraine under a U.N.-backed deal was going to wealthy rather than poorcountries, Qazet.az reports according to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

The July grain deal aimed to avert a global food crisis by guaranteeing the safe passage of ships in and out of Ukrainian ports, allowing them to export tens of millions of tonnes of grain. The deal also facilitates Russian exports.

"The fact that grain shipments are going to the countries that implement these sanctions (against Moscow) are disturbing Mr. Putin. We also want grain shipments to start from Russia," Erdogan said at a news conference with his Croatian counterpart.

"The grain that comes as part of this grain deal unfortunately goes to rich countries, not to poor countries," Erdogan said.