By Kenneth Rapoza,
The Russian government passed a presidential decree on Wednesday ousting Turkish companies from participating in civil construction and in the travel and tourism industry effective Jan. 1.
The move is no surprise. Following the Nov. 24th downing of a Russian fighter jet that was flying unauthorized in Turkish air space for a whole 17 seconds, president Vladimir Putin promised economic punishment. The Sukhoi fighter was one of two bound for bombing runs of ISIS held territory in north Syria. Since that day, the two countries have been at odds. Russia has swung the most punches, singling out president Recep Erdogan of Turkey for aiding and abetting in Islamic State jihad by importing oil from their turf, among other things.
According to Wednesday’s document, Turkish companies are prohibited from “building construction, civil engineering and all other specialized construction works.”
Turkey-owned enterprises are also banned from “operating in the field of architecture and engineering design, technical testing, research and analysis.”
Travel agencies and other service providers in the tourism sector were also banned from conducting business with Russia, making it more difficult for Russians to travel to Turkey for business or pleasure. Commercial air travel related businesses were not directly affected by the sanctions. Special charter flights arranged by travel agents, on the other hand, are temporarily prohibited until the two sides can work out their spat over Syria.
The decree on the introduction of economic sanctions was first signed in November, after the incident with the Sukhoi Su-24 gunned down by a Turkish fighter plane.
The decree now includes import bans on Turkish vegetables, fruits, poultry and salt.
