Russia says it will hit Turkey’s economy in revenge for jet
RUSSIA says it will take broad retaliatory measures against Turkey’s economy in revenge for the downing of its warplane on Tuesday, as recriminations between Moscow and Ankara reached fever pitch.
While Russia has ruled out any military retaliation against NATO member Turkey, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he had given ministers two days to work out “a system of response measures” in the economic and humanitarian spheres.
He said the punitive steps for what he termed “this act of aggression” could include halting joint economic projects, restricting financial and trade transactions and changing customs duties.
Measures could also target the transport and tourism sector after Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier backed a warning to citizens not to travel to Turkey, where nearly 3.3 million Russians went on holiday last year.
Russia also attacked Turkey’s agricultural sector, tightening checks on food imports over alleged safety standard violations.
Turkey over the past 10 months has exported agricultural produce and food worth just over US$1 billion to Russia.
Meanwhile, Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan traded barbs, with Putin demanding an apology for the incident that led to the death of one of two pilots and a soldier who took part in a failed rescue operation — Russia’s first combat losses since the start of its Syria campaign.
Erdogan in turn dismissed Moscow’s claims he was propping up the Islamic State and accused the Russian president of slander.
The downing raised fears it could fuel a wider geopolitical conflict and highlighted the difficulty of forging consensus on the fate of Syria.
“We still have not heard any articulate apologies from Turkey’s highest political level nor any proposals to compensate for the harm and damage nor promises to punish criminals responsible for their crimes,” Putin said.
“We believe treacherous stabs in the back from those who we considered partners and allies in the anti-terror fight to be absolutely inexplicable,” he said, also accusing Turkey of buttressing the IS jihadists financially and militarily.
In Ankara, Erdogan insisted his country was not buying oil from the IS group. “They claim Turkey is buying oil from Daesh,” Erdogan said, using another name for IS.
In a comment thought to be addressed to Putin, although he didn’t mention him by name, Erdogan said: “Shame on you. Those who claim we buy oil from Daesh are obliged to prove it. If not, you are a slanderer.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu responded to calls for an apology by saying: “We don’t need to apologize on an occasion that we are right.”
Turkey says its forces repeatedly warned the Russian jet about intruding into its airspace.
Moscow claims the plane never crossed over the border from Syria, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov branded the incident a “planned provocation.”
Turkey’s military said it did not know the warplane was Russian and that it was ready for “all kinds of cooperation” in an apparent bid to defuse tensions.
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