Turkish cooling

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday during a press conference, following negotiations with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Syria Valid Muall, announced the suspension of the visa-free regime with Turkey. This statement was made three days after the Turkish Air Force shot down the Russian Su-24 bomber. Most likely, Ankara will take mirror measures, which will only be a formality in the context of the fact that for Russian citizens the possibility of flying to Turkey is already limited .

“Russia is very, very concerned about the increase in terrorist threats in the Turkish Republic. This is directly related to the safety of the Russian Federation, our citizens. Through Turkey, the traffic of militants in various directions is established. These are not far -fetched threats, ”Lavrov explained the decision of the authorities about the suspension of a visa -free regime with Turkey, operating since 2011. Thanks to him, citizens of both countries could be on each other for 60 days without a visa.

The visa regime will begin to operate on January 1, 2016. So far, such measures have been taken unilaterally, but the unofficial statements of Turkish officials make it clear that Ankara will maintain the pace specified by Moscow. Meanwhile, the Turks and Russians have already encountered problems when crossing the border. On Thursday, at least 30 Turkish citizens at the entrance to Russia were sent back. The press department of the Turkish embassy in Russia confirmed RBC that Turkish citizens report problems on the border, as well as a more thorough search.

The reasons for the failure of the entrance were not specified, but at that time, representatives of the Turkish diplomatic mission did not receive any official notifications of changes in the rules of visiting the Russian Federation. The source of RBC in the government explained that regarding the work with Turkey, all departments and services received an order to clearly comply with the job descriptions, thus organizing a kind of “Italian strike”. 39 Turkish businessmen deported from Krasnodar for the fact that they were in Russia without registration of business visas felt the action of obstruction on themselves.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry recommended that the Russians who are in Turkey return home in connection with a high level of terrorist danger, and also refrain from visiting this country in the future. Lavrov added to this that Türkiye repeatedly deported Russians to unfriendly countries for participating in illegal activities. According to the minister from the country, more than 200 people were sent and only in seven cases Moscow was informed of deportation.

Russian tour operators and travel agents soon after the incident on the Syrian-Turkish border were virtually forbidden to provide services in the Turkish direction . Rostourism peremptorily recommended “to suspend the promotion and sale of tourist products, as well as individual tourism services in the Turkish Republic, warning that the provision of services in the context of tourist security is a gross violation of the law. The deputies of Fair Russia introduced amendments to the law “On tourism activities”, which offer the government to give additional powers that provide the right to establish a temporary ban on the sale of tourist trips to individual countries.

In addition to everything, Russia can close the air traffic with Turkey, limiting both regular and charter flights. This restriction may be included in the complex of “special economic measures” against Turkey, which are now being worked out under the control of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. It is estimated that in this case, the Turkish Airlines , the largest foreign air carrier in Russia, will lose three times more than Aeroflot.

The crisis in relations between Russia and Turkey upset the plans of part of the Russians for the New Year holidays. In September, Vedomosti, citing the Association of Tour operators of Russia (ATOR), wrote that 85% of Russians who planned to spend holidays abroad chose visa -free directions, among which Egypt, Thailand and Dominican Republic prevailed. In November, Egypt was excluded from this list after the Airbus A-321 of the Russian Air Air Airline Kogalymavia was blown up over Sinai. Turkey in the winter season is not as popular among Russian tourists as Egypt, but in an emergency situation, travel agencies could expect that after the closing of the air traffic with Egypt, the views of those wishing to hold the New Year abroad will be turned to Turkish resorts. According to the preliminary assessment of the ATOR, to date, tour operators sold up to five thousand New Year's tours to Antalya and Istanbul. On November 26, almost 10 thousand Russians were along the tour operators in Turkey. All of them should return home until December 7th.

The period of suspension of the visa -free regime between Russia and Turkey will depend on the diplomatic efforts of both countries, including pi helping intermediaries, as well as on the course of the war in Syria and the roles that Türkiye will play in it. In the meantime, the rhetoric on both sides is becoming tougher.

“We must be considered the fact that the territory of Turkey is transit territories for terrorists is not only transit of people, but also transit of weapons, transit of transport, which is sent to the weapon zone with weapons and other materials necessary,” said Alexey Pushkov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs.

The Turkish authorities categorically refuse to apologize for the downed plane, and official Moscow makes it clear that in this case, contacts at the highest level are impossible.