According to the decree, which became effective immediately on the date of publication, Turkish companies of transportation shall be restricted in their operations in Russian territories, with Turkish ships and boats being banned from staying at or navigating across Russian ports, while import of certain goods from Turkey will be halted.
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The U.S. and Turkey agreed to coordinate their efforts against ISIS in July, but the Journal points out that little progress has been made since that agreement, due to policy disagreements and complications within Syria, particularly Russia’s military intervention on behalf of Syrian president Bashar Assad, who Turkey and the U.S. oppose.
One day after saying Turkey fired missiles as “an automatic reaction to a border breach” – and not knowing the nationality of the plane in question – Erdogan said Saturday, “We wouldn’t have wished this to happen”.
He apologized for the first time since Turkish F-16 jets shot down the Russian jet on grounds that it had violated Turkey’s airspace despite repeated warnings to change course.
After days of tough talk in the wake of the incident, Erdogan struck a more conciliatory tone Saturday, saying that his government was “really saddened” by the matter, and insisting that he did not want to ramp up tensions. “Hence Russia’s economic sanctions against Turkey are aimed to cut short the financing of terrorism, among other things”, she said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called for sanctions against Turkey, following the downing this week by Turkey of a Russian warplane.
Some of the measures announced had already been informally introduced.
“If we allow our sovereign rights to be violated… then the territory would no longer be our territory”, Erdogan said.
Turkey’s downing of the Russian military jet, the first time in half a century that a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member shot down a Russian plane, has drawn a harsh response from Moscow. “Let’s not make others happy by destroying our whole relationship”, Erdogan said.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said the Kremlin has received Erdogan’s request for a meeting, but he would not say whether one will take place.
Bondarev said earlier the Turkish jet was waiting to attack the Russian plane.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev earlier in the week had ordered his cabinet to develop a list of goods to be sanctioned. Erdogan nevertheless said he wanted a direct meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin when the two leaders are in Paris next week for the United Nations climate summit. Turkish diplomatic sources told the Anadolu news agency that at least 26 Turkish businessmen were taken into police custody in Russia’s Black Sea city of Krasnodar on Wednesday.
The recent developments is set to severely impact the more than US$30 billion in trade ties between the two countries.
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Both Moscow and Ankara say they are fighting Islamic State in Syria, but differences remain.
