ИСТИНА

Politics and economy are important components of the bilateral relations. However, interaction and cooperation between non-state institutions and indi-viduals have all the potential to develop faster than official channels limited by bureaucratic procedures and to make the dialogue between societies far ahead of the dialogue between state officials. Non-political relations between Russia and Turkey have a number of pri-mary and marginal dimensions. Among the humanitarian dimensions in the Russian-Turkish relations education and tourism occupy the first place both quantitatively and qualitatively. Tourism has become both a significant sector in terms of economic benefits and one of the key-factors accelerating interaction between Turkish and Russian people. Constantly increasing number of mutual visits, neighborhood relations, and cross-cultural initiatives – all this serves to reduce social prejudices in a long run of post-Cold War dynamics, helps to con-vert the legacy of negative perceptions into relatively more positive attitudes.