How Turkey Could Lose Billions For Downing Jet

Russia's prime minister has said joint projects between the two countries may be scrapped.

Dmitry Medvedev said Turkish companies could lose the share of the Russian market they have so far enjoyed as a consequence of the military action.

In October, Russia's foreign ministry had said that trade between Turkey and Russia could reach $100bn by the next decade because of a series of planned projects.

Among them was the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant.

But as the row over where the plane was shot down rumbles on, politicians scrambled to prevent the military action from developing into a full diplomatic and trade stand off.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu tried to reduce tensions with Moscow, saying that Russia is Turkey's "friend and neighbour" and insisting relations should not be "sacrificed to accidents of communication".

Turkey has been claiming the Su-24 Russian war plane was shot down after a repeated breach of its airspace on Tuesday, but the Russians are adamant it had remained in Syria.

Mr Medvedev described Turkey's actions as "criminal" and foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said it was a "planned provocation". 

The prime minister said: "The recklessly criminal actions of the Turkish authorities that downed Russia’s aircraft have three consequences.

"First - it’s the dangerous worsening of relations between Russia and NATO. Second - Turkey has demonstrated by its actions ... the protection of the militants of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.

And third, the long-standing good-neighbourly relations between Russia and Turkey, including in the economy and humanitarian spheres have been undermined."

There was widespread anger in Moscow on Tuesday night.

Several MPs called for diplomatic relations to be suspended as protests were held in Moscow where the Turkish embassy's windows were broken by stones and in Ulyanovsk where a Turkish flag was smeared with eggs.

Russia said it intends to ban imports of poultry meat from a Turkish supplier in the next few weeks.

But the biggest immediate impact could be on the number of Russian tourists and business people likely to visit Turkey.

The Russian Association of Travel Agencies has said several of its members have stopped selling package tours to Turkey and another MP called for a complete ban on flights.

Mr Lavrov warned Russians against visiting Turkey, telling them it was no safer than Egypt, where a Russian airliner was recently brought down by a bomb.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned his people not to travel to Turkey as there could be reprisals if anything else happens.

He said on Wednesday: "After yesterday’s event we cannot rule out other incidents and if they happen, we will have to respond somehow.

"And our citizens in Turkey can, certainly, be in serious danger and the Foreign Ministry should announce this."