On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to end Russia’s ban on tourism to Turkey following talks over the phone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and on Thursday, Kremlin announced that Russia has lifted its ban on charter flights to Turkey.
The number of foreign arrivals to Turkey slumped by 34.7 percent in May compared to the same month of 2015 to 2.49 million and the number of Russian tourists visiting Turkey declined by around 92 percent to 41,004 in May compared to the same month of 2015. Thanks to the lifted ban on charter flights, Turkish tourism will be able to stop the decline in arrivals.
Moreover, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that his country would remove economic sanctions against Turkey "on a gradual basis."
Medvedev said economic sanctions against Turkey would be lifted in accordance with instructions of Putin.
Russia would also demand guarantees by the Turkish government in order to provide safety for Russian tourists, he added.
The Kremlin had banned the sale of tour packages and charter flights to Turkey after a Russian jet was downed by a Turkish F-16 over the Turkey-Syria border for repeatedly violating Turkish airspace on Nov. 24.
Source: AA
