Turk scolds Russia over sanctions

Premier says focus is on easing tensions after jet shot down

ISTANBUL — Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu criticized Russian economic sanctions on Turkey after the downing of a Russian fighter jet over the Syrian border last week, saying his priority was to defuse the tension and prevent similar conflicts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday announced measures against Turkey that included suspending visa-free travel, halting tours to Turkey and banning the hiring of Turkish citizens. In Turkey, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek led a meeting with other members of the nation’s economic administration to discuss the potential effect, according to a government official, who asked not to be named in line with official policy.

“It’s not just Turkey that has economic interests; Russia, too, has economic interests in relation to Turkey,” Davutoglu said, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. Turkey expects Russian officials to act in a cool-headed manner, he said.

While it is still too early to quantify the effect of Russian sanctions on the Turkish economy, Turkey stands to lose a major source of tourism revenue, said Apostolos Bantis, a credit analyst at Commerzbank AG in Dubai.

Turkey is the most popular foreign destination for Russians, with 3.3 million visiting in the first nine months of this year. They make up more than 10 percent of the tourists in Turkey, a figure that trails only Germany.

“We expect markets will react negatively and we’ll see further volatility across all Turkish assets until there is further clarity on specific sanctioned entities and banned products,” Bantis said.

Trade volume between Turkey and Russia was about $32 billion last year, with the balance heavily weighted in Russia’s favor, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Turkey’s imports accounted for about $26 billion of that

total, much of it natural gas.

Davutoglu, speaking before traveling to Brussels for talks with the European Union, said Turkey’s priority was to keep open communications with Russia and to coordinate operations in Syria. The downing of the jet “clearly showed that air operations in same airspace by two separate coalitions of countries can always lead to similar incidents,” he said.

Simsek, who on Tuesday was appointed head of Turkey’s economic administration in a new Cabinet, will brief Davutoglu after the prime minister returns from meetings with NATO in Brussels today, according to the Turkish official. Any response would be determined by Davutoglu after that briefing, the official said. Economic sanctions are mutually damaging as both nations benefit from trade ties, he said.

Turkey has sent a request for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to meet with Putin today during the climate summit in Paris, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Putin, said Saturday in a televised interview. Russia hadn’t yet replied, he said.

Davutoglu also said Turkey has taken up delivery of the body of the Russian pilot who was killed after Turkey downed the jet.

He said the pilot’s body was taken to the border province of Hatay “through Turkey’s initiatives” early Sunday and will be flown back to Russia. He said the Orthodox church in Hatay performed religious rites for the pilot.

Two pilots parachuted out of the plane but were shot at by Syrian rebels on the ground. One of the pilots, Lt. Col. Oleg Peshkov, died. The other airman, Capt. Konstantin Murakhtin, survived.

STRIKES IN SYRIA

The downing of the jet by a Turkish F-16 warplane has overshadowed efforts to mount a united campaign against Islamic State militants after attacks Nov. 13 in Paris. Putin described the shootdown

as a stab in the back by Turkey, which has criticized Russia’s decision to launch airstrikes in Syria to support President Bashar Assad.

Syria’s conflict has killed more than 250,000 people and wounded more than 1 million since the start of an uprising against Assad in 2011. The Islamic State has laid claim to northern parts of the country.

In Paris, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Kimoon said Sunday that he’s deeply concerned about tensions between Russia and Turkey after the warplane was shot down.

Ban said he had urged “the leadership of the two countries first to de-escalate the tension” while they’re fighting against the Islamic State in Syria.

Ban said that when there is “division and tension between coalition partners,” it will not be beneficial in fostering global commitment to fight terrorism and extremism.

In Syria, airstrikes reported Sunday were believed to be carried out by Russian warplanes. At least 18 civilians were killed and dozens more wounded in a northern Syrian town held by insurgents, Syrian opposition media reported.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the airstrikes in the town of Ariha killed at least 18 people, including four children, and wounded dozens. The Local Coordination Committees, an activist collective, said the airstrikes hit a busy market, inflicting heavy casualties.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists inside Syria, said the airstrike destroyed three buildings in the center of Ariha.

Ariha Today, a Facebook page that covers events in the town, said the airstrikes were carried out by Russian warplanes, killing 40 people and wounding more than 70. Conflicting tolls are common in the aftermath of attacks in Syria.

If Russian warplanes carried out Sunday’s strikes, it would be one of the deadliest attacks since Moscow began launching airstrikes in Syria

two months ago. Opposition activists say more than 400 civilians have been killed by Russian strikes since the air campaign began Sept. 30.

The Observatory reported several other strikes in the northwestern province of Idlib that were believed to have been carried out Sunday by Russian warplanes. It said an office of the Turkistan Islamic Party, a group that consists mainly of fighters from Asian states, was hit in the town of Jisr al-Shughour and that planes struck a relief office for the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham group in the town of Saraqib.

The Local Coordination Committees reported airstrikes on a hospital in Idlib, the provincial capital, and other targets in Saraqib.

Russia said its airstrikes are aimed at the Islamic State group and other “terrorists,” but Western officials and Syrian rebels said most of the strikes have focused on parts of Syria where the Islamic State does not have a strong presence.

Elsewhere, Germany now plans to send 1,200 troops to support the escort frigate and reconnaissance and refueling aircraft it has committed to the military campaign in Syria, a top general said in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

Inspector General Volker Wieker confirmed that Germany’s action against the Islamic State will consist of the deployment of Tornado reconnaissance aircraft, a radar satellite, an escort ship and tanker planes. The deployment will support a French air campaign in Syria and provide protection for a French aircraft carrier, among other objectives.

“From a military point of view, the necessary count of soldiers to service the airplanes and ships is an estimated 1,200,” Wieker said. Germany is discussing bases with Turkey and Jordan, he added.

Information for this article was contributed by Constantine Courcoulas, Benjamin Harvey and Selcan Hacaoglu of Bloomberg News; by staff members of The Associated Press; and by Aaron Ricadela of Bloomberg News.