Turkey has tightened its inspections of Russian ships docked in its harbors in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, and has so far detained 27 Russian ships which failed to meet sailing criteria. This move is in retaliation for the Russian authorities detaining Eight Turkish ships in Russian ports, denying them permission to travel since Nov. 24, the day when Turkey downed a Russian military jet. The Turks said the Russian ships were too old to sail.
According to Turkish daily Habertürk, citing shipping officials in Ankara, Turkish and Russian authorities contacted each other via email, with the Russian side agreeing to a meeting to resolve the crisis, although how and when the parties will meet is yet unclear.
According to Daily Sabah, as soon as the Russian Su-24 fighter was downed over Turkey’s airspace, Russia implemented non-reciprocal trade ties and customs practices. It detained Turkish business travelers, blocked Turkish trucks from crossing the border into Russia, and denied Turkish civilian vessels entry into Russian ports, forcing them to wait in open waters.
Daily Sabah claims that while Turkish officials have been attempting to ease the tensions, declaring they never considered Russia an enemy of Turkey, Russia remained hostile, and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev issued a list of sanctions against Turkey. The list, published on the government’s official website on Tuesday, includes agricultural products that Russia would no longer import from Turkey beginning Jan. 1, and retroactively approved a ban on charter flights to Turkey which has been in effect since Dec. 1.