Russia unveils sanctions list against Turkey

MOSCOW, Dec. 2  (NsNewsWire) — Russia’s government on Tuesday approved a resolution listing detailed sanctions against Turkey in response to last week’s downing of a Russian warplane near the Syrian-Turkish border, reports Xinhua.

The resolution, signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, bans from Jan. 1 imports of foodstuffs, including poultry meat, a variety of fresh, frozen and dried fruit and vegetables, as well as cloves and table salt.

The resolution suspends activities of the Russian-Turkish Intergovernmental Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation as well as all mutual trade and investments negotiations.

The resolution cuts the number of annual licenses for 2016 granted to Turkish cargo transporters by road to 2,000 with a prospect of cancelling them altogether.

Meanwhile, according to the resolution, Turkish citizens without a labor contract or a civil contract signed before Dec. 31, 2015 won’t be allowed to work on the territory of Russia from Jan. 1, 2016.

Bilateral agreement on visa-free travel is suspended, together with charter flights between the two countries except those meant to repatriate Russian tourists from Turkey.

Also on Tuesday, Russia’s Tour Operators Association said it had stopped selling tours to Turkey indefinitely, while the Ministry of Education and Science said it was curtailing cooperation with Turkey’s universities and planned shortly to repatriate all Russian students in the near future.