Turkey's Resort of Antalya May Lose $6.5Bln Due to Crisis With Russia

Mustafa Akaydin, a Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) lawmaker, said that Turkish region Antalya could lose $6 billion in tourism and $500 million in the agricultural sector due to the conflict between Russia and Turkey.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Turkish resort city of Antalya is projected to lose some $6.5 billion should the conflict with Russia over the downing of a Su-24 jet escalate further, a Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) lawmaker from Antalya said Monday.

"The crisis between Turkey and Russia must be resolved as soon as possible," Mustafa Akaydin said at a joint press conference with his colleagues, adding that should the situation escalate, Antalya could lose $6 billion in tourism and $500 million in the agricultural sector, as quoted by the Turkish Hurriyet newspaper.

Cetin Osman Budak, another CHP Antalya lawmaker, added that Turkey could lose up to $20 billion or 3 percent of the country's GDP annually if the conflict between the two states escalates.

On November 24, a Su-24 aircraft was brought down in Syria by an air-to-air missile fired from a Turkish F-16 fighter. According to Ankara, the missile was shot in response to a violation of Turkish airspace.

The Russian General Staff and the Syrian Air Defense Command said that the Su-24 never crossed into Turkish airspace.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to introduce economic measures against Ankara. The measures include a ban on charter air travel between the two countries, directions to travel agencies not to sell tours to Russian citizens that involve visiting Turkey and restricts on the import of certain goods from Turkey.