Turkey plans to produce flour from Russian wheat to supply poor nations: Erdogan

Ankara, Nov 22 (IANS) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country planned to produce flour from Russian wheat for free delivery to the least developed countries.

Erdogan said he had agreed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on such a plan, in an effort to tackle the global food crisis, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Putin made the following offer to me, 'Let's send this grain to the least developed countries, that is, to the poor countries for free'. We agreed too," the President was quoted as saying on Monday on his flight back from Qatar.

"We even made such a plan that we will buy the wheat if necessary, make it flour in Turkey, and then send it to the least developed countries," he added.

On July 22, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkey and the US to ensure grain and fertilizer supplies to the global market amid Moscow's ongoing invasion of Kiev.

The deal was extended last week for another 120 days.

Since July, nearly 11.2 million tonnes of essential foodstuffs have been shipped.

However, 300,000 tonnes of Russian fertilizer remain stranded in various European ports, according to UN Conference on Trade and Development Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan.

Ankara says it has been making efforts to pave the way for the resumption of Russian grain and fertilizer export to world markets as well.