ANKARA, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- New Russian Ambassador to Turkey Alexei Yerkhov has said that the relations between Russia and Turkey are "promising," the Anadolu Agency reported Thursday.
Yerkhov told Turkish media representatives earlier the week that it requires a serious effort to bring the relations to "a higher level."
He was appointed to replace Andrey Karlov, who was assassinated at an art exhibition in Ankara on Dec. 19 last year.
Yerkhov said that the political dialogue between Russia and Turkey was growing, citing that phone discussions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have "gained significant momentum recently."
The Russian envoy also touted "very tight" coordination between Russia and Turkey on Syria, based on "the context of the Astana Process."
He was referring to the peace talks on Syria held in May in Astana, Kazakhstan, during which a memorandum was signed to create four "De-escalation Zones" in Syria.
The Astana Process, chaired by Russia, Iran and Turkey in parallel to UN-backed talks on Syria in Geneva, aims to find a political solution to the six-year Syria's civil war.
On the economic ties between Russia and Turkey, Yerkhov said "there is still substantial potential in trade between the two countries which has not been discovered."
Turkey aims to increase its trade with Russia up to 100 billion U.S. dollars. The Russia-Turkey economic ties suffered from the temporary diplomatic standoff caused by Turkey's shooting down of a Russian military jet in November 2015.
At that time, Russia retaliated by banning imports of Turkish agricultural products and ending visa-free travel for Turks. But in June, Moscow lifted its ban on Turkish agricultural imports and Turkish companies in construction, engineering, and tourism.
Yerkhov declined to comment on the delivery of Russian S-400 anti-missile systems to Turkey, citing its sensitivity.
Turkey, a NATO member, has irked the United States and other NATO allies with signing a 2.5 billion-dollar deal in July to buy the advanced Russian missile-defense systems.
