Russian Sanctions to ‘Hurt Turkey Badly’

Russian economic sanctions imposed against Turkey would have a devastating effect on the Turkish economy, Ben Aris, editor-in-chief of the Business New Europe magazine, told Radio Sputnik.

Turkey is one of Russia's leading trade partners and the economies of the two countries are intimately integrated.First of all, Turkey would suffer from the lack of Russian tourists, who bring in about $6.5-billion a year.Second of all, Turkish companies are heavily invested in Russia, particularly in the construction industry. In addition, trade, investment and employment will all be affected by sanctions.

 They [Russian sanctions] can hurt Turkey badly," Aris told Radio Sputnik.

The Turkish government didn't expect that Russia would take the downing of its Su-24 plane so seriously and impose such harsh measures against Turkey, Aris added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan already said he doesn't want any further escalation, especially a military escalation, between Russia and Turkey, the political expert said.

"I think he [Erdogan] was hoping to get Putin to the negotiating table and start talking about who's bombing who and who's protecting who, but actually these things have run out of control now," Aris told Sputnik.

The move comes as Russia started to question Ankara's commitment to the fight against terrorism following the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber on Tuesday by the Turkish Air Force over Syria.

Russian travel agencies will have to stop selling tours to Turkey, according to the Kremlin. The directive is part of a decree that aims to boost Russia's national security.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the incident would negatively affect all aspects of relations between Moscow and Ankara and recommended Russians to refrain from visiting Turkey. Cooperation in the tourism industry between Moscow and Ankara may be stopped, the Russian Federal Tourism Agency said.    

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