Russia's President Vladimir Putin (front L) and Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (front R), with Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov of Russia (L) and Ahmet Davutoglu (C) of Turkey in the background
Business Insider: Russia just dealt a huge blow to Turkey over its downing of a Russian warplane
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on Friday that Russia would be suspending its visa-free travel agreement with Turkey, in light of Turkey's decision to shoot down a Russian warplane earlier this week.
The suspension, which will make it harder for Russians to travel to Turkey, is likely to have a significant negative effect on Turkey's economy.
Russians account for a huge portion of Turkey's tourism industry. About 3.3 million Russian tourists visited Turkey in 2014, the second-largest number of tourist arrivals after Germany and around 12% of total visitors, according to Reuters.
WNU Editor: Russia is not going to shut off natural gas shipments .... Russia won't cut off gas supplies to Turkey (OilPrice.com), but visa restrictions, a consumer boycott, and trade restrictions will have an impact. Blowing up the Islamic State's oil infrastructure that provided Turkey with cheap oil will also have an impact .... but no one is going to acknowledge that.
WNU Editor,
ReplyDeleteTip for you:
The Turkish army has suspended flights over Syria as part of an ongoing joint military campaign with the United States against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) after it shot down a Russian jetfighter, sparking an unprecedented crisis between Ankara and Moscow.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Default.aspx?pageID=517&nID=91733&NewsCatID=352