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Citing national security concerns and increasing terrorism threats on Turkish soil, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Saturday imposing economic sanctions on Turkey that would see halting of imports from Turkey, suspension of flights between the two nations and a crackdown on Turkish businesses in Russia.
The development is the latest retaliation by Moscow to the downing of the Russian warplane, which Turkey claims violated its airspace, killing one of the jet’s crew members.
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Russia has introduced economic restrictions against Turkey following the #Su24 crash - Presidential executive order
— President of Russia (@KremlinRussia_E)
November 28, 201
"The circumstances are unprecedented. The gauntlet thrown down to Russia is unprecedented. So naturally the reaction is in line with this threat," said Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, commenting on the new sanctions. The decree went into effect immediately.
According to the new sanctions, charter flights from Russia to Turkey would be banned, tour firms would suspend packages sales for holidays there, and unspecified Turkish imports would be outlawed, and economic activities of Turkish firms and nationals would halted or curbed.
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The sanctions came hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had softened his tone on the issue by saying during a speech that he was “saddened” by the incident and wished it had not happened.
Erdogan maintained however that Turkey would not be apologizing for the downing of the jet, something that Putin has stressed was a condition for any reconciliation.
Chairperson of Duma's Committee for Security & anti-Corruption Irina Yarovaya: Measures against Turkey aim to cut off terrorism financing.
— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin)
November 29, 201
The decree comes just one day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Russia will cancel its visa-free agreement with Turkey by the January next year, a deal that has been in place since 2011. The Russian tourism ministry also called on more than 9,000 Russian in Turkey to come home, citing security concerns.
The latest development comes a day after the Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that his government was putting together response measures and sanctions against Turkey as a retaliation against the downing of the jet.
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Meanwhile, Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said Thursday Moscow could halt preparations for a joint free trade zone, and restrict high-profile projects including the TurkStream gas pipeline and a US$20 billion nuclear power plant Russia is building in Turkey. Reports did not indicate if those projects will be affected by the sanctions.
Some of the sanctions seemed to be enforced even before the formal decree. Turkish citizens and businessmen have said that they were denied entry into Russia, while reports said Thursday that Turkish companies in Russia were raided. Also Russia’s biggest tour operator Natali Tours already suspended the sales of packages to Turkey.
Tourism accounted for $21 billion of income for Turkey in the nine months to September. About $4 billion came from Russians.
— Zaid Benjamin (@zaidbenjamin)
November 28, 201
Erdogan and putin are set to join the climate talks taking place next week in Paris. Erdogan have requested to meet his Russian counterpart, however, Putin has yet to respond.
The recent developments is set to severely impact the more than US$30 billion in trade ties between the two countries.
