Jumpstarted by the agreement reached with Ukraine for passport-free travel between the two countries with new identity cards, negotiations for a similar application between Turkey and Russia have started again. Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said preparations have been made for Russian citizens to enter Turkey without passports and announced that they will be installing devices in airports that can read Russian citizens' identity cards.Speaking in Antalya on Sunday, Minister Çavuşoğlu stressed that the normalization of the relations between Russian and Turkey is gradually improving. Indicating that there is a healthy friendship between the leaders of the two countries, Çavuşoğlu recalled the latest joint cabinet meeting in Moscow on March 10.Stating that before the jet crisis in late November 2015, they had met frequently regarding passport-free travel for the citizens of the two countries, he said, "Now that our relations are normal, we can continue negotiations on this issue." Additionally, he explained that they are installing devices at airports that can read Russian identity cards so that they can travel to Turkey without passports.Previously, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid an official visit to Russia on March 10 and held a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which economic issues, energy and military cooperation, decreased travel restrictions for Turkish nationals, and import restrictions on Turkish companies and food products were the main topics.After Turkey downed a Russian warplane for violating its airspace near the Syrian border on Nov. 24, 2015, the Russian government announced sanctions on Turkey in retaliation, including a ban on exports. Despite some rough patches last year, Turkey-Russia bilateral relations have entered a new phase following the Erdoğan-Putin meeting on Aug. 9, 2016 in St. Petersburg that put a full stop to the seven-month rift produced by the jet crisis. Since then, the presidents have met several times on matters of significant importance for both countries, as well as the world at large. Frequent communications and meetings have become routine for Turkish and Russian high-ranking officials as well.The Russian government has shown some flexibility regarding tourism, even encouraging its citizens to travel to Turkey. However, Moscow has not shown the same willingness to compromise when it comes to importing products from Turkey. While some agricultural products were removed from Russia's ban list, others still remain.