Turkey raising the stakes

[Daffodil]

Both countries would suffer if they did not manage to work out a solution to the situation in which they find themselves.

[Daffodil]

My thoughts are what situation would Britain find itself in if it started bombing Syria?

[Scunner]

And so the repercussions begin

...and continue

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow has decided to suspend visa-free travel with Turkey.

Todays Zaman

[sadler]

How pleased am I that I saw the writing on the wall a couple of years ago! 

[Scunner]

And if the government in Moscow don't stop the Russian people holidaying in Turkey, the tourists seem pretty much decided against it anyway...


<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNmUTgovWmA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNmUTgovWmA</a>


Not good

[kevin3]

  It would be nice to hear the views of Turkish members and their feelings on the events unfolding.

  Two huge ego's have collided, who will blink first.? I think Reg. President Putrid is hugely popular

  at home, Reg isn't.

[Sleuth]

Its not only Russians who will stay away...  I  feel many from the UK  will  not be visiting in 2016, regulars will still visit, but prospective holiday makers will choose different locations , adding that this is right smack in the middle of  the  booking months  ... Antalya  area  will miss the Russians (  and Russian numbers were down in 2015)   and I  think Mugla area will see a downturn in visiting Brits  :-(       these recent events,  and it seems a growing anti islamic  feeling with the UK public ......  have cast a much bigger shadow over  Turkey  and its tourism  than `Midnight Express`  `Bird Flu outbreak`  2010  earthquake` and other past headlines . 

Yesterday`  Daily Mirror  `on line   article  reads   that some Russian  political nutter   suggested  to Putin`s  aids,  to  ( in the Daily Mirror`s words )    Nuke Istanbul  and kill 9 million  turks  as payback
a tongue in cheek comment it might have been, But gutter press will make a meal of comments like that  and  put into print for thousands to read in the UK is not going to help turkish tourism
Its surely going to be a bumpy ride  2016  for Turkey  economically   and may decimate a chunk of tourism  :-(

However,  come what may, as long as we can get on a plane in February, we will be back to our place over there in Hisaronu for 8 months  next year again .we are in it for the long haul  whatever happens  ,  warts and all      :-)

[Colwyn]

President Putrid is hugely popular at home, Reg isn't.

Putin and Erdogan have remarkably similar careers. Both grew from a base of a hard core of ideological supporters but expanded their support by years of political stability and economic growth that showed itself in steadily increasing living standards for the majority of the population. They both share "The Nation's Strong Man" image. But both have counties experiencing declining economic performance over the last few years, leading to less personal prosperity and have found their support become weaker, have resorted to dodgy elections and, finally, stoking feelings of the nation under threat from hostile forces to back their rule. Hence, each is happy to divert public attention from issues at home by focusing on posturing against an alleged enemy of their nation.

[Colwyn]

P.S. Three years ago a pound would have bought you 50 rubles; now you would get 100. That means the Russian currency has done even worse than Turkey's. That takes some doing! No wonder Russian tourists have been taking fewer foreign holidays and spending less.

[Jacqui Harvey]

Putin is now blaming America for the downing of the Russian plane. !!
http://nypost.com/2015/11/27/putin-blames-us-for-shooting-down-russian-plane/