Turkey Could Lose 500,000 Tourists due to Russia Flight Restrictions

People walk inside historical Spice Bazaar, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 13, 2021. (AP)
People walk inside historical Spice Bazaar, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 13, 2021. (AP)
TT
20

Turkey Could Lose 500,000 Tourists due to Russia Flight Restrictions

People walk inside historical Spice Bazaar, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 13, 2021. (AP)
People walk inside historical Spice Bazaar, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 13, 2021. (AP)

Turkish Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said flight restrictions imposed by Russia until June could cost Turkey 500,000 tourists, broadcaster NTV reported on Wednesday.

Russia said it will restrict flights to and from Turkey from April 15 to June 1 as new coronavirus infections rose to an all-time high in Turkey, prompting fresh lockdown measures.

"The date when the flight ban ends could be brought forward depending on a fall in COVID-19 case numbers. There might be a fall of near 500,000 in tourist numbers," Ersoy said, adding that there are no issues with summer bookings, according to NTV.

On Monday, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said that a Russian delegation would visit Turkey's tourist destinations soon to observe coronavirus control measures in the areas.

The outbreak slashed Turkey's tourism revenues by two thirds last year, an economy reliant on tourists to bring in foreign currency revenue that helps curb its chronic current account deficit.



Iran Says It Will Respond to Reimposition of UN Sanctions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
TT
20

Iran Says It Will Respond to Reimposition of UN Sanctions

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei. (Iranian Foreign Ministry)

Iran will react to any reimposition of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program, the country's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, without elaborating on what actions Tehran might take.

A French diplomatic source told Reuters last week that European powers would have to restore UN sanctions on Iran under the so-called "snapback mechanism" if there were no nuclear deal that guaranteed European security interests.

The "snapback mechanism" is a process that would reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran under a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted the measures in return for restrictions on Iran's nuclear program.

"The threat to use the snapback mechanism lacks legal and political basis and will be met with an appropriate and proportionate response from Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told a press conference, without giving further details.

The 2015 deal with Britain, Germany, France, the US, Russia and China - known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - states that if the parties cannot resolve accusations of "significant non-performance" by Iran, the "snapback mechanism" process can be triggered by the 15-member UN Security Council.

"The European parties, who are constantly trying to use this possibility as a tool, have themselves committed gross and fundamental violations of their obligations under the JCPOA," Baghaei said.

"They have failed to fulfill the duties they had undertaken under the JCPOA, so they have no legal or moral standing to resort to this mechanism."

Western countries accuse Iran of plotting to build a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies.

The United States pulled out of the deal in 2018 under the first administration of President Donald Trump, who called the agreement "weak".

Trump, whose second presidency began in January, has urged Tehran to return to nuclear negotiations on a new deal after a ceasefire was reached last month that ended a 12-day air war between Iran and Israel that destabilized the Middle East.

When asked if Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would meet with Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, Baghaei said no date or location had been set for resuming the US-Iran nuclear talks.