MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed into law sweeping economic sanctions against Turkey as relations between the two countries plummet after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane over the Syrian border this week.
Turkey said it shot down the Russian Su-24 bomber, part of a deployment of Russian air power striking targets in Syria, because the plane briefly crossed into Turkish airspace, a charge that Russia denies.
A Russian pilot and a marine sent to rescue the pilot were killed in Tuesday’s incident, Russia’s first confirmed combat deaths since it deployed air power to Syria more than two months ago.
Putin, who called the attack a “stab in the back,” struck back with the sanctions, taking aim at more than $30 billion in trade ties between the two countries.
The sanctions bill, posted on the Kremlin’s website, targets Turkey’s tourism industry, cancels visa-free travel between the two neighboring countries, bans many Russian companies from hiring Turkish citizens, and blocks imports of some Turkish goods. Russian government agencies are expected to submit lists of banned goods and exclusions from the new sanctions on Monday.
The fallout will be particularly painful for the Turkish tourism industry. More than three million Russian tourists visit Turkey each year, many of them traveling on all-inclusive, week-long resort vacations starting at $1,000 for a couple including airfare. Putin on Saturday banned charter flights to Turkey and travel companies were ordered not to sell tours to the country.
Earlier this week, Russian Finance Minister Alexey Ulyukayev said that the sanctions would also freeze some prestige projects between the two countries, including a joint venture to build Turkey’s first nuclear power plant and a Russian-Turkish gas pipeline called Turkstream. Putin signed the gas deal with Turkey in December after the European Union blocked the pipeline.
Dmitry Peskov. Putin’s personal spokesman, bragged on Russian national television on Saturday that Turkish businesses were “ringing alarm bells” over the coming sanctions.
The shoot-down has exposed the fault lines among the outside powers intervening in the four-year old Syrian civil war, despite a shared opposition to the Islamic State.
The West, including NATO ally Turkey, has called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down as part of a political transition, while Moscow has provided him diplomatic and military cover. Turkey targeted the Russian jet this week as Moscow was bombing a rebel group fighting against Assad with Turkish support.
For some patriotic Russians, the name of Turkey has quickly become anathema. In one incident this week, residents of the city of Ulyanovsk tore down a Turkish flag flying over the Turkish-affiliated Efes brewery and raised the flag of Russian airborne troops instead. On Saturday, the head of the “Turkish Choir,” Mikhail Turetsky, told a Moscow radio station that the musical act might change its name for the time being. Turetsky, whose surname literally means Turkish, said he was also considering taking his wife’s name.
Turkish President Recep Erdogan has sought to soothe Russia after the incident, saying he was “saddened” by the downing of the jet. But has also said he will not apologize for Turkish pilots following orders. Erdogan has asked to speak with Putin in Paris on Monday when both leaders will travel to the 2015 U.N. Climate Change Summit.
Putin has ignored Erdogan’s phone calls, his press secretary said, because Erdogan has not apologized for the incident. Putin has not said whether or not he will speak with Erdogan in Paris.
