Thursday, November 26, 2015

Russia Employs Econ. Action on Turkey Over Jet; Freezes Joint Projects, Cuts Imports from Turkey

Russia threatened to implement an economic retaliation against Turkey today (November 26, 2015) and said it was still awaiting a reasonable explanation and an apology from Turkey for shooting down its warplane, but Turkey dismissed the threats as "emotional" and "unfitting," according to the Reuters website.

In an escalating war of words, President Tayyip Erdogan responded to Russian accusations that Turkey has been buying oil and gas from the Islamic State (IS) in Syria by accusing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his backers -- which includes Russia -- of being the real source of the IS group's financial and military power.

The shooting down of the Russian jet by the Turkish air force on November 24 was one of the most serious clashes between a NATO member and Russia, and further complicated international efforts to battle Islamic State militants.

As an initial retaliation against Turkey, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered his government to draw up measures that include freezing some joint investment projects and restricting food imports from Turkey. Russia has also decided to suspend its visa-free travel agreement with Turkey, thus significantly decreasing the number of Russian tourists that will visit Turkey.

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