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Russian Clubs Land Turkish Ban

Reporting from Moscow, NPR’s Corey Flintoff reports the incident has chilled relations between the two countries.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday the reason Turkey downed a Russian warplane last week was that it wanted to protect supplies of oil from Islamic State.

Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko confirmed to R-Sport that clubs were aware of the directive but added that Turkish players already plying their trade in the country would not be affected by the sanctions – at least until their current contracts expire.

Russian Federation and Turkey have accused each other of aiding Islamic State, but both say they are battling the militants who have taken swathes of land in Iraq and Syria.

Relations between Russia and Turkey have nosedived since Turkey shot down the Russian bomber near the Syrian-Turkish border on November 24.

Ahmet Davutoglu also said Turkey hopes Moscow will reconsider economic sanctions announced against Turkish interests following last week’s incident.

The two pilots parachuted out of the plane but were shot at by Syrian rebels on the ground. The measures also call for ending chartered flights from Russia to Turkey and for Russian tourism companies to stop selling vacation packages that would include a stay in Turkey.

Turkey shot down the Russian warplane Tuesday, claiming it had violated Turkish airspace and ignored repeated warnings. Turkey and Greece dispute the sovereignty of islands in the Aegean Sea along with other territorial waters and national airspace, reported The Week.

Turkey is a major customer of Russian natural gas exports and a big destination for Russian tourists.

The Russian air force said Monday that its Su-34 fighter-bombers in Syria were now armed with air-to-air missiles.

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Turkey is one of the neighbours most affected by the 4-year-old civil war in Syria, having hosted 2 million refugees while calling loudly for the downfall of Assad.

Russia vows to impose food ban in new sanctions against Turkey