Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday lifted restrictions on travel to Turkey after mending ties with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, seven months after Ankara downed a Russian jet, triggering a raft of sanctions.
Following his first call with Erdogan since the incident, Putin announced that Moscow’s ban on charter flights and package tours to Turkey would be lifted and that government would also look at ending an embargo on a selection of Turkish food products.
“I want to start with the question of tourism … we are lifting the administrative restrictions in this area,” Putin told government ministers in televised comments.
“I’m asking that the Russian government begin the process of normalizing general trade and economic ties with Turkey,” he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia and Turkey would most likely resume cooperation in resolving the Syrian crisis.
Lavrov, on a visit to France, also said he would discuss the Syrian crisis and other issues with his Turkish counterpart on the sidelines of a regional summit in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi Friday.
Triple suicide bombing
The move came as Turkey was hit by a triple suicide bombing at Istanbul’s main international airport Tuesday which left 41 people dead, including 13 foreigners.
The attack was a further blow to the tourist industry that was already battered by Russia’s sanctions.
Apart from banning charter flights and sales of tourist packages to Turkey, Moscow had also suspended visas for Turkish visitors.
The diplomatic breakthrough came in a phone call by Putin to Erdogan after the Turkish strongman Monday sent a letter to the Kremlin leader that Moscow said contained an apology over the downing of the jet in November.
Erdogan also called Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to thank him for his contribution to improving Russia-Turkey relations, the Kazakh presidency said.
Profound condolences
The Kremlin said that Putin expressed his “profound condolences” to Erdogan over the bombing and shooting attack at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport.
The Turkish presidency said that Erdogan and Putin stressed “the importance of the normalization of bilateral relations.”
Erdogan is expected to meet with Putin in September on the sidelines of the forthcoming G20 summit in China for their first face-to-face talks since the start of the diplomatic row, a Turkish official told AFP Wednesday speaking on condition of anonymity.
Erdogan has been on a diplomatic blitz in recent days that also saw him restore relations with Israel after years of acrimony over a deadly 2010 raid on a Turkish aid flotilla for Gaza.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said that the ban on charter flights and the product embargo would formally be lifted in the “next few days.”
Dmitry Gordin, the vice president of Russia’s association of tour operators, predicted that tourist flows to Turkey would recover to preNovember levels within three months.
Source: The Daily Star (Lebanon)
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