People shop on a busy market street in Istanbul on April 9.
Photographer: Chris McGrath / Getty Images
Photographer: Chris McGrath / Getty Images
Russia suspended most air travel with Turkey, citing increasing coronavirus infections, cutting off a major source of tourism revenue to the country amid tensions over Ankara’s support for Ukraine.
Most charter and regular flights will be suspended between April 15 and June 1, but there will still be two flights a week between Moscow and Istanbul, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said in a televised briefing Monday. Fully 80% of the cases of Covid-19 identified in Russians returning from abroad were in people coming from Turkey, head of health Anna Popova told the same briefing.
About 500,000 Russians had booked trips to Turkey during that period, which includes two national holidays, according to RIA Novosti the Russian Tour Operators Association. Borsa Istanbul’s tourism index fell 6.4% on Monday as rumors circulated that flights may be suspended, closing at its lowest level since Jan. 11.
Russia was the largest source of tourists to Turkey last year, with 2.13 million visitors despite the limitations of the coronavirus.
Daily cases in Turkey, the highest in Europe, hit a record 55,941 on April 8. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to announce tougher measures on social distance following a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Erdogan received Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last weekend amid mounting tensions with Moscow over a massive Russian troop building near the border with Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Erdogan about the Ukraine crisis and the Covid-19 situation the day before.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any connection between the flight ban and Zelensky’s visit, telling RIA Novosti that the move is solely related to the coronavirus situation. Russia also suspended flights with Tanzania on Monday, citing the outbreak there.