Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday called for economic sanctions against Turkey after a Russian jet was downed earlier this week on the Syrian border.
The sanctions were announced in a decree published on the Kremlin’s website and comes as Turkish President Recep Tayipp Erdogan voiced regret over the incident, saying he wished the event hadn’t happened.
The decree calls for bans on some goods and forbids extensions of labor contracts to Turkish individuals working in Russia, The Associated Press reported.
It also calls for ending chartered flights from Russia to Turkey and for all Russian tourism companies to stop offering vacation packages to Turkey.
On Tuesday, Turkish F-16 jets shot down a Russian warplane after Turkey claimed the warplane had crossed the Syrian border and violated Turkish airspace, despite sending multiple warnings. Russia claimed no such warning was received.
“We are truly saddened by this incident,” Mr. Erdogan said while addressing supporters in the western city of Balikesir on Saturday, AP reported. “We wish it hadn’t happened as such, but unfortunately such a thing has happened. I hope that something like this doesn’t occur again.”
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He said neither country should allow the incident to escalate further and renewed a call for a meeting with Mr. Putin during a climate conference which they will both attend in Paris next week.
But Mr. Erdogan maintained that Turkey has nothing to apologize for in the incident.
“If we allow our sovereign rights to be violated … then the territory would no longer be our territory,” he said, AP reported.
Mr. Putin has denounced Turkey’s action as a “stab in the back,” and insisted that the plane was wrongfully shot down.
He has refused to take calls from Mr. Erdogan. Asked why Mr. Putin hasn’t picked up the phone to respond to Mr. Erdogan’s two phone calls, he said that “we have seen that the Turkish side hasn’t been ready to offer an elementary apology over the plane incident,” AP reported.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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