Turkey aims to attract 8 million more tourists in the first stage of a campaign to boost the nation’s tourism earnings to $50 billion, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday.
"I believe that we can increase our short-term national income [from tourism] to $50 billion and increase it further to $86 billion by 2023," the nation’s centennial, Erdogan said after meeting with representatives of leading Turkish tourism companies at the presidential palace.
By using the Turkish tourism sector's quality of service, product range, cultural and historical wealth, and human resources, Erdogan said, Turkey aims to become one of the world's top three tourism destinations.
Turkey is currently the world’s number six tourist destination, attracting more than 30 million tourists annually and continuing to show positive growth year-on-year, according to Turkey’s Investment Support and Promotion Agency.
Aiming to reach the top three, Turkey Thursday kicked off a new campaign called "Bring your neighbor and come", encouraging Turkish citizens living abroad to spend their holidays in Turkey as well as bring their foreign neighbors with them on holiday.
According to Erdogan, there are currently 5 million Turkish-origin individuals living abroad, most of them in European countries such as Germany, France, Belgium, and Britain.
Moreover, there are also 3.5 million Turkish-origin individuals who once lived abroad and returned to Turkey but still maintain ties with the countries they once lived in, Erdogan added.
"We consider all our citizens living abroad as our voluntary tourism ambassadors. So I invite our citizens living abroad to spend at least one week of their holidays in Turkey [at tourist destinations] in addition to visiting to their families,” Erdogan said.
"I also ask them to bring their neighbors and friends with them for holidays to Turkey. In that vein, we’re launching the 'Bring your neighbor and come' campaign."
Saying that Turkey is home to a wealth of natural beauty with gorgeous mountains, winding rivers, as well as historical beauties and a rich cuisine, Erdogan said that people who choose to holiday in Turkey can experience Turkish hospitality firsthand and meet the "real" Turkey.
Celebrations at home
As part of the campaign, Erdogan also invited Turkish citizens living abroad to hold special events such as engagements or weddings in Turkey rather than in the countries they live in.
"Every year more than 50,000 wedding events of our citizens living abroad take place in the countries where they live," he said.
"My brothers living in Germany, France, Belgium, Britain and other countries, let's be sensible and celebrate all the special events in our country."
The campaign also urges foreigners working in Turkey to spend at least one week of their holidays in Turkey.
Saying that there are some 50,000 companies funded by foreign capital in Turkey, Erdogan called on foreigners living and working in Turkey to seize the opportunity and "learn about the real Turkey" by spending at least one week of their holidays in Turkey.
The Culture and Tourism Ministry “along with our tourism companies are providing attractive new opportunities for these foreigners. We also invite these companies' employees living abroad to come and spend their holidays in Turkey," he said.
According to Erdogan, over the last 14 years, under Justice and Development (AK) Party rule, the number of tourists visiting Turkey rose from some 13 million to 40 million. Over the same period national earnings from tourism more than doubled from $12.5 billion to $31.5 billion, he added.
Despite smear campaigns claiming that Turkey is no longer a safe place for tourists or investments, Invest in Turkey figures say the growth of Turkey’s tourism industry in recent years has beaten the global average.
Its latest statistics say that the industry’s direct contribution to the current account deficit in 2015 was 80 percent, while its contributions to GDP the same year reached 4.37 percent.
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Showing posts with label President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Show all posts
Friday, 3 February 2017
Wednesday, 8 June 2016
TURKEY: Bomb Kills 11 Near Istanbul Tourist Spots
After the explosion, Turkish special police officers carrying guns and wearing masks were sent to secure the area
A bomb has ripped through a bus carrying riot police near Istanbul's top tourist spots killing 11 people.
The blast happened during rush hour in the Turkish city killing seven officers and four civilians and comes after a string of attacks in the country.
The bomb targeted a service shuttle bus carrying officers from Istanbul's anti-riot police as it was passing through the central Beyazit district.
Emergency services work to free people from the mangled wreckage after a bus carrying riot police was bombed in Istanbul.
The blast happened during rush hour in the Turkish city killing seven officers and four civilians and comes after a string of attacks in the country
A van was also destroyed in the blast, which happened close to the main tourist sites in the Turkish city
The city's governor Vasip Sahin also said in a live statement on Turkish TV that 36 people were wounded, three of them seriously.
Turkish police say they have detained four suspects over the car bombing and that they have been taken to police headquarters in Istanbul for interrogation.
Reports said the explosion took place close to the Vezneciler metro station, which is within walking distance of some of the city's main tourist sites including the famed Suleymaniye Mosque.
Pictures showed the bomb had turned the police vehicle into mangled wreckage and that nearby shops had their front windows smashed out by the force of the blast with cars parked in the vicinity also damaged.
Police carrying guns patrolled the area after the blast amid fears people had heard shots also being fired.
The blast took place opposite an upscale hotel favoured by foreign tourists, the Celal Aga Konagi Hotel.
Television pictures showed bomb disposal experts examining the scene in case of a second unexploded bomb and reports said at least one controlled explosion was carried out.
Scheduled examinations at Istanbul University - which lies close to the scene of the blast - have been cancelled.
Reports said that shots were heard and pictures showed police in bullet proof vests brandishing their weapons.
The blast took place opposite an upscale hotel favoured by foreign tourists, the Celal Aga Konagi Hotel, a converted Ottoman mansion.
After the explosion, Turkish special police officers carrying guns and wearing masks were sent to secure the area.
At least 36 people were also injured in the explosion.
Since the start of the year, Turkey has been hit by a sequence of attacks that have rattled citizens and also caused tourism to plummet
However, there has been no indication of who had carried out the attack.
Since the start of the year, Turkey has been hit by a sequence of attacks that have rattled citizens and also caused tourism to plummet.
Two separate blasts in Ankara claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) - a radical splinter group of the better-known outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - earlier this year claimed dozens of lives.
Last month, at least eight people including soldiers were wounded by a remotely detonated car bomb aimed at a military vehicle in Istanbul that was claimed by the PKK.
Business owners were forced to clear up glass after the windows of shops close by shattered in the bomb blast
Meanwhile, a dozen German tourists were killed on January 12 in a bombing in the heart of Istanbul's tourist district blamed on ISIS jihadists.
At least three Israelis and an Iranian were killed in a March 19 bombing on Istanbul's main Istiklal shopping street which was also blamed on the terror group.
The attacks have also come as Turkey is battling PKK militants, who have themselves killed hundreds of members of the security forces in the southeast.
The government has warned there will be no let up in the fight until the PKK is defeated and the militants have in turn threatened more attacks.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited some of the people who were wounded in the blast yesterday
The attacks in Turkey's heartland have had a dire effect on the tourism industry.
But the attacks in Turkey's heartland have had a dire effect on the tourism industry and further violence in Istanbul comes at the worst possible time heading into the key summer season.
Some 1.75 million foreigners came to Turkey in April, down more than 28 per cent on April 2015, the tourism ministry said in its latest release.
The fall was the steepest monthly decrease for 17 years and raised fresh concerns about the health of the industry heading into the crucial summer season.
The US embassy in Turkey in April warned of 'credible threats' to tourist areas in Istanbul and the resort city of Antalya, in particular to public squares and docks.
Turkey, a member of NATO and the US-led anti-jihadist coalition, appears to have stepped up its operations against ISIS in northern Syria, where the extremists control areas near the border, which some analysts say has made it more vulnerable to attack.
The blast happened during rush hour in the Turkish city killing seven officers and four civilians and comes after a string of attacks in the country.
The bomb targeted a service shuttle bus carrying officers from Istanbul's anti-riot police as it was passing through the central Beyazit district.
Emergency services work to free people from the mangled wreckage after a bus carrying riot police was bombed in Istanbul.
The blast happened during rush hour in the Turkish city killing seven officers and four civilians and comes after a string of attacks in the country
A van was also destroyed in the blast, which happened close to the main tourist sites in the Turkish city
The city's governor Vasip Sahin also said in a live statement on Turkish TV that 36 people were wounded, three of them seriously.
Turkish police say they have detained four suspects over the car bombing and that they have been taken to police headquarters in Istanbul for interrogation.
Reports said the explosion took place close to the Vezneciler metro station, which is within walking distance of some of the city's main tourist sites including the famed Suleymaniye Mosque.
Pictures showed the bomb had turned the police vehicle into mangled wreckage and that nearby shops had their front windows smashed out by the force of the blast with cars parked in the vicinity also damaged.
Police carrying guns patrolled the area after the blast amid fears people had heard shots also being fired.
The blast took place opposite an upscale hotel favoured by foreign tourists, the Celal Aga Konagi Hotel.
Television pictures showed bomb disposal experts examining the scene in case of a second unexploded bomb and reports said at least one controlled explosion was carried out.
Scheduled examinations at Istanbul University - which lies close to the scene of the blast - have been cancelled.
Reports said that shots were heard and pictures showed police in bullet proof vests brandishing their weapons.
The blast took place opposite an upscale hotel favoured by foreign tourists, the Celal Aga Konagi Hotel, a converted Ottoman mansion.
After the explosion, Turkish special police officers carrying guns and wearing masks were sent to secure the area.
At least 36 people were also injured in the explosion.
Since the start of the year, Turkey has been hit by a sequence of attacks that have rattled citizens and also caused tourism to plummet
However, there has been no indication of who had carried out the attack.
Since the start of the year, Turkey has been hit by a sequence of attacks that have rattled citizens and also caused tourism to plummet.
Two separate blasts in Ankara claimed by the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) - a radical splinter group of the better-known outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - earlier this year claimed dozens of lives.
Last month, at least eight people including soldiers were wounded by a remotely detonated car bomb aimed at a military vehicle in Istanbul that was claimed by the PKK.
Business owners were forced to clear up glass after the windows of shops close by shattered in the bomb blast
Meanwhile, a dozen German tourists were killed on January 12 in a bombing in the heart of Istanbul's tourist district blamed on ISIS jihadists.
At least three Israelis and an Iranian were killed in a March 19 bombing on Istanbul's main Istiklal shopping street which was also blamed on the terror group.
The attacks have also come as Turkey is battling PKK militants, who have themselves killed hundreds of members of the security forces in the southeast.
The government has warned there will be no let up in the fight until the PKK is defeated and the militants have in turn threatened more attacks.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited some of the people who were wounded in the blast yesterday
The attacks in Turkey's heartland have had a dire effect on the tourism industry.
But the attacks in Turkey's heartland have had a dire effect on the tourism industry and further violence in Istanbul comes at the worst possible time heading into the key summer season.
Some 1.75 million foreigners came to Turkey in April, down more than 28 per cent on April 2015, the tourism ministry said in its latest release.
The fall was the steepest monthly decrease for 17 years and raised fresh concerns about the health of the industry heading into the crucial summer season.
The US embassy in Turkey in April warned of 'credible threats' to tourist areas in Istanbul and the resort city of Antalya, in particular to public squares and docks.
Turkey, a member of NATO and the US-led anti-jihadist coalition, appears to have stepped up its operations against ISIS in northern Syria, where the extremists control areas near the border, which some analysts say has made it more vulnerable to attack.
Monday, 18 January 2016
TURKEY: Suicide Blast In Istanbul Kills At Least 10
Most of the 10 people who died were Germans. It was unclear whether the death toll of 10 included the alleged bomber.Officials claim the suspect was a Syrian and believe it was an act of terrorism but haven't said if they suspect a terror group was involved.
A suicide bomber detonated a bomb in the heart of Istanbul’s historic district on Tuesday, killing 10 foreigners — most of them German tourists — and wounding 15 other people in the latest in a string of attacks by the Islamic extremists targeting Westerners.
The blast, just steps from the historic Blue Mosque and a former Byzantine church in the city’s storied Sultanahmet district, was the first by Islamic State to target Turkey’s vital tourism sector, although IS militants have struck with deadly effect elsewhere in the country.
There are no reports of Canadian citizens affected by the bombing, spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada told the Star in an e-mail Tuesday morning.
“Canadian consular officials in Turkey are reaching out to local authorities to gather more information,” Amy Mills said.
Canada has advised citizens to exercise a high degree of caution” countrywide in Turkey, and to “be extremely vigilant, follow the advice of local authorities and monitor local media” if you are in Istanbul.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the bomber was a member of IS and pledged to battle the militant group until it no longer “remains a threat” to Turkey or the world.
Davutoglu described the assailant as a “foreign national,” and Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said he was a Syrian citizen born in 1988. However, the private Dogan news agency said the bomber was Saudi-born. Kurtulmus said the attacker was believed to have recently entered Turkey from Syria and was not among a list of potential bombers wanted by Turkey.
“Turkey won’t backtrack in its struggle against Daesh by even one step,” Davutoglu said, referring to IS by its Arabic acronym. “This terror organization, the assailants and all of their connections will be found and they will receive the punishments they deserve.”
Eight Germans were among the dead and nine others were wounded, some seriously, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in Berlin. The nationalities of the two others killed in the blast were not immediately released, but both were foreigners. The wounded also included citizens of Norway, Peru, South Korea and Turkey.
Turkey’s state-run news agency said Davutoglu held a phone conversation with German chancellor Angela Merkel to express his condolences.
“I strongly condemn the terror incident that occurred in Istanbul, at the Sultanahmet Square, and which has been assessed as being an attack by a Syria-rooted suicide bomber,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Merkel pledged Germany would continue its fight against terrorism.
“Today, Istanbul was the target, before Paris, Copenhagen, Tunis, and so many other areas,” she told reporters in Berlin. “International terror changes the places of its attacks but its goal is always the same — it is our free life, in free society. The terrorists are the enemies of all free people, indeed, the enemies of all humanity, whether in Syria or Turkey, in France or Germany.”
The impact of Tuesday’s attack, while not as deadly as two others last year, was particularly far-reaching because it struck at Turkey’s $30-billion tourism industry, which has already suffered from a steep decline in Russian visitors since Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November.
Its apparent links to Syria also threatened to have implications in a country that is already dealing with more than 2 million Syrian refugees and a wave of migrants from Syria and other countries pouring across Turkey to Europe.
“By striking in the heart of Istanbul’s old city, which has many.tourists, but few Turks, (IS) is targeting Turkey’s lucrative tourism industry,” said Soner Cagaptay, an expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute.
Cagaptay said that by targeting Germans, Islamic extremists also seemed to be aiming to heighten an anti-refugee backlash in Europe and deepen the anti-Islam sentiment there.
“This attack will, unfortunately, drive further backlash against German Chancellor Merkel’s pro-Syrian refugee policy,” Cagaptay said in emailed comments.
The explosion, which could be heard in several neighbourhoods, was at a park that is home to a landmark obelisk some 25 yards (metres) from the Blue Mosque. Nearby monuments include the Ottoman-era Topkapi Palace and the former Byzantine church of Haghia Sophia, now a museum.
Berlin travel agent Lebenslust Touristik said that “many people” that it had booked on a tour were among the dead and wounded. Overall there were 33 people on the tour, the agency said, adding that it was working closely with the German Foreign Ministry to help the victims and their families.
Among the wounded was Jostein Nielsen, a 59-year-old Salvation Army officer from Norway who was sightseeing with his wife when the bomb went off, striking him in the knee with shrapnel.
“I first heard a bang that I think is what detonated the bomb,” Nielsen told Norway’s TV2, speaking from his hospital bed. “After that came the real bang . . . . There were human remains all over the place.”
Erdem Koroglu, who was working at a nearby office, told NTV television he saw several people on the ground following the blast.
“It was difficult to say who was alive or dead,” Koroglu said. “Buildings rattled from the force of the explosion.”
Halil Ibrahim Peltek, a shopkeeper near the area of the blast told The Associated Press it had “an earthquake effect.”
“There was panic because the explosion was violent,” he said.
The Islamic State group has repeatedly threatened Western targets, with its first major attacks claimed a year ago in Paris on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and a kosher supermarket.
Two attacks, last year, targeting a major museum and beach resort in Tunisia left scores dead, nearly all Western tourists. IS also claimed the downing of a Russian jetliner carrying Russian tourists from the Eygptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh that killed all 224 on board.
In the case of Tunisia and Egypt, the response of many Western governments was to issue safety warnings for citizens considering travel to the countries, which rely heavily on tourism revenues. Turkey is equally reliant on tourism, and Istanbul has been among the world’s most visited cities.
Last year, Turkey agreed to take a more active role in the U.S.-led battle against the IS group. It has opened it bases to U.S. aircraft to launch air raids on the extremist group in Syria and has carried out a limited number of strikes on the group itself.
It has also moved to tighten security along its 900-kilometre border with Syria in a bid to stem the flow of militants.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby condemned Tuesday’s attack and pledged to work with Turkey to combat the Islamic State group. “The United States reaffirms our strong commitment to work with Turkey, a NATO ally and valued member” of the coalition fighting IS “to combat the shared threat of terrorism,” Kirby said in a statement.
The attack comes at a time of heightened violence between Turkey’s security forces and militants linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in the country’s mostly Kurdish southeast.
Turkey suffered two major bombing attacks last year, both blamed on the Islamic State group.
More than 30 people were killed in a suicide attack in the town of Suruc, near Turkey’s border with Syria, in July. In October, two suicide bombs exploded outside Ankara’s main train station as people gathered for a peace rally, killing more than 100 in Turkey’s deadliest-ever attack.
Last month, Turkish authorities arrested two suspected IS militants they said were planning suicide bombings during New Year’s celebrations in the capital, Ankara.
A suicide bomber detonated a bomb in the heart of Istanbul’s historic district on Tuesday, killing 10 foreigners — most of them German tourists — and wounding 15 other people in the latest in a string of attacks by the Islamic extremists targeting Westerners.
The blast, just steps from the historic Blue Mosque and a former Byzantine church in the city’s storied Sultanahmet district, was the first by Islamic State to target Turkey’s vital tourism sector, although IS militants have struck with deadly effect elsewhere in the country.
There are no reports of Canadian citizens affected by the bombing, spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada told the Star in an e-mail Tuesday morning.
“Canadian consular officials in Turkey are reaching out to local authorities to gather more information,” Amy Mills said.
Canada has advised citizens to exercise a high degree of caution” countrywide in Turkey, and to “be extremely vigilant, follow the advice of local authorities and monitor local media” if you are in Istanbul.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the bomber was a member of IS and pledged to battle the militant group until it no longer “remains a threat” to Turkey or the world.
Davutoglu described the assailant as a “foreign national,” and Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said he was a Syrian citizen born in 1988. However, the private Dogan news agency said the bomber was Saudi-born. Kurtulmus said the attacker was believed to have recently entered Turkey from Syria and was not among a list of potential bombers wanted by Turkey.
“Turkey won’t backtrack in its struggle against Daesh by even one step,” Davutoglu said, referring to IS by its Arabic acronym. “This terror organization, the assailants and all of their connections will be found and they will receive the punishments they deserve.”
Eight Germans were among the dead and nine others were wounded, some seriously, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters in Berlin. The nationalities of the two others killed in the blast were not immediately released, but both were foreigners. The wounded also included citizens of Norway, Peru, South Korea and Turkey.
Turkey’s state-run news agency said Davutoglu held a phone conversation with German chancellor Angela Merkel to express his condolences.
“I strongly condemn the terror incident that occurred in Istanbul, at the Sultanahmet Square, and which has been assessed as being an attack by a Syria-rooted suicide bomber,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
Merkel pledged Germany would continue its fight against terrorism.
“Today, Istanbul was the target, before Paris, Copenhagen, Tunis, and so many other areas,” she told reporters in Berlin. “International terror changes the places of its attacks but its goal is always the same — it is our free life, in free society. The terrorists are the enemies of all free people, indeed, the enemies of all humanity, whether in Syria or Turkey, in France or Germany.”
The impact of Tuesday’s attack, while not as deadly as two others last year, was particularly far-reaching because it struck at Turkey’s $30-billion tourism industry, which has already suffered from a steep decline in Russian visitors since Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border in November.
Its apparent links to Syria also threatened to have implications in a country that is already dealing with more than 2 million Syrian refugees and a wave of migrants from Syria and other countries pouring across Turkey to Europe.
“By striking in the heart of Istanbul’s old city, which has many.tourists, but few Turks, (IS) is targeting Turkey’s lucrative tourism industry,” said Soner Cagaptay, an expert on Turkey at the Washington Institute.
Cagaptay said that by targeting Germans, Islamic extremists also seemed to be aiming to heighten an anti-refugee backlash in Europe and deepen the anti-Islam sentiment there.
“This attack will, unfortunately, drive further backlash against German Chancellor Merkel’s pro-Syrian refugee policy,” Cagaptay said in emailed comments.
The explosion, which could be heard in several neighbourhoods, was at a park that is home to a landmark obelisk some 25 yards (metres) from the Blue Mosque. Nearby monuments include the Ottoman-era Topkapi Palace and the former Byzantine church of Haghia Sophia, now a museum.
Berlin travel agent Lebenslust Touristik said that “many people” that it had booked on a tour were among the dead and wounded. Overall there were 33 people on the tour, the agency said, adding that it was working closely with the German Foreign Ministry to help the victims and their families.
Among the wounded was Jostein Nielsen, a 59-year-old Salvation Army officer from Norway who was sightseeing with his wife when the bomb went off, striking him in the knee with shrapnel.
“I first heard a bang that I think is what detonated the bomb,” Nielsen told Norway’s TV2, speaking from his hospital bed. “After that came the real bang . . . . There were human remains all over the place.”
Erdem Koroglu, who was working at a nearby office, told NTV television he saw several people on the ground following the blast.
“It was difficult to say who was alive or dead,” Koroglu said. “Buildings rattled from the force of the explosion.”
Halil Ibrahim Peltek, a shopkeeper near the area of the blast told The Associated Press it had “an earthquake effect.”
“There was panic because the explosion was violent,” he said.
The Islamic State group has repeatedly threatened Western targets, with its first major attacks claimed a year ago in Paris on the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper and a kosher supermarket.
Two attacks, last year, targeting a major museum and beach resort in Tunisia left scores dead, nearly all Western tourists. IS also claimed the downing of a Russian jetliner carrying Russian tourists from the Eygptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh that killed all 224 on board.
In the case of Tunisia and Egypt, the response of many Western governments was to issue safety warnings for citizens considering travel to the countries, which rely heavily on tourism revenues. Turkey is equally reliant on tourism, and Istanbul has been among the world’s most visited cities.
Last year, Turkey agreed to take a more active role in the U.S.-led battle against the IS group. It has opened it bases to U.S. aircraft to launch air raids on the extremist group in Syria and has carried out a limited number of strikes on the group itself.
It has also moved to tighten security along its 900-kilometre border with Syria in a bid to stem the flow of militants.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby condemned Tuesday’s attack and pledged to work with Turkey to combat the Islamic State group. “The United States reaffirms our strong commitment to work with Turkey, a NATO ally and valued member” of the coalition fighting IS “to combat the shared threat of terrorism,” Kirby said in a statement.
The attack comes at a time of heightened violence between Turkey’s security forces and militants linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in the country’s mostly Kurdish southeast.
Turkey suffered two major bombing attacks last year, both blamed on the Islamic State group.
More than 30 people were killed in a suicide attack in the town of Suruc, near Turkey’s border with Syria, in July. In October, two suicide bombs exploded outside Ankara’s main train station as people gathered for a peace rally, killing more than 100 in Turkey’s deadliest-ever attack.
Last month, Turkish authorities arrested two suspected IS militants they said were planning suicide bombings during New Year’s celebrations in the capital, Ankara.
Saturday, 28 November 2015
TURKEY: Russian Travel Agents Stop Selling Package Tours To Turkey, Reimburse 6,000 Tourists
Britain's U.N. ambassador says Turkey's downing of a Russian fighter jet must lead to redoubled efforts to end the Syrian conflict.Matthew Rycroft said that the longer the conflict goes on, "the more scope there is for these sorts of incidents to happen, and they are very dangerous."
He said the way to end the conflict is by implementing the 2012 Geneva communique calling for a transitional government in Syria and the way to speed this is through the Vienna talks involving about 20 key parties which have spurred "some momentum."
Rycroft said a lot of work is taking place on defining terrorism, uniting the opposition, preparing for a cease-fire and who would monitor it ahead of the next round of talks in December.
Israel's Tourism Ministry is investing an extra $2.6 million to attract Russian tourists after crises in Egypt and Turkey.
Ministry spokeswoman Michal Gerstler says Israel has focused on Russia for a month "in an attempt to create an alternative."
Russian tour agencies suspended sales of packages to Turkey after Turkish warplanes shot down a Russian jet along the Syrian border on Tuesday. Some 4.5 million Russian tourists visit Turkey each year.Russia suspended passenger flights to Egypt after the Oct. 31 crash of a passenger plane in the Sinai Peninsula that killed all 224 people on board, nearly all of them Russians.
Russia said the plane was downed by a bomb, and the Islamic State group claimed the attack.Gerstler said Wednesday that Israel will woo Russians through online ad campaigns and other marketing channels.
European Council President Donald Tusk has ruled out the possibility of a coalition with Russia in Syria as long it targets moderate Syrian opposition groups. Tusk said Wednesday that the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey on Tuesday "underlines the difficult situation in Syria where there are different actors with different interests conducting different operations with different aims."
He said there is only one way to avoid such incidents in the future and that is to concentrate all resources on the fight against the Islamic State group.He said "this should be a common objective" and "there will be never be a coalition to fight the moderate Syrian opposition. Everybody needs to understand that."
Iran is lashing out at Turkey over the shooting down of a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border, saying Ankara is responsible for heightened tensions in the region. Iran and Russia are key allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Turkey is a leading supporter of the rebels fighting to overthrow him.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said these "provocative actions and their many legal consequences are the responsibility of the initiator." He adds that "on the basis of the information we have up to now, the plane was involved in operations in the Syrian airspace."
Iran's parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, as calling the downing of the Russian jet a "big mistake." Turkey says it fired on the jet after it intruded into its airspace.
NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg says the downing of a Russian plane by alliance member Turkey "highlights the need to strengthen the mechanisms to avoid such incidents in the future."
Stoltenberg wrote in an op-ed piece scheduled to be published Thursday in a number of leading European newspapers that "we should not sleepwalk into unintended escalation." Stoltenberg said the incident Tuesday requires "calm and diplomacy," and shows the need to update longstanding agreements meant to guarantee a maximum degree of transparency and predictability for military activities in Europe.
The NATO chief accused Russia of walking away from some of those accords, or exploiting their loopholes.
He added that "this is not a new Cold War," but it is "a wakeup call."
Turkey's state-run news agency and Syrian activists say airstrikes on the Syrian town of Azaz near the Turkish border hit an aid convoy. The Anadolu agency says seven people were killed and 10 wounded in strikes that it said hit a convoy taking supplies to refugees in Azaz on Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear if the strikes were carried out by Russian or Syrian warplanes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported earlier intensive Russian airstrikes in Azaz.
France's lower house of Parliament is debating whether to extend airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria after the group claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks in Paris. The government is trying to rally global action against the group.
French fighter jets joined the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State extremists in Iraq in 2014, and expanded their mission to Islamic State targets in Syria in September. President Francois Hollande cited specific threats against French interests stemming from IS in Syria.
France's National Assembly is debating whether to extend the campaign in Syria, and the Senate is scheduled to debate it as well. The measure is expected to pass in both houses, amid national concern following the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.
A Russian pilot who has survived the downing of his warplane says Turkish jets did not issue any warnings. Capt. Konstantin Murakhtin said Wednesday on Russian television that his plane was flying over Syrian territory and didn't violate Turkish airspace.
Muravkin was rescued early Wednesday by Russian and Syrian commando and was speaking in televised comments from the Russian Hemeimeem air base in Syria
Syrian rebels say Russian forces are pounding insurgent-held areas in Syria's Latakia province, unleashing a wave of airstrikes on mountains near where a Russian jet was shot down the previous day.
Jahed Ahmad, a spokesman for a rebel brigade in the region affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, says the Russians appear to be taking "revenge" for the plane's downing by Turkey, a key backer of the rebels in the area.
Speaking from inside Syria via Skype on Wednesday, he says the Russian jets were providing cover for advancing Syrian ground forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies. Syrian TV also reported advances by Syrian forces in Lattakia province Wednesday.
The Russian Association of Travel Agencies says several Russian agencies have stopped selling package tours to Turkey.
Turkey, along with Egypt, has long been a top destination for Russian tourists.
The travel industry group said in a statement Wednesday that several major travel agencies are no longer selling tours to Turkey following an official travel warning about a potential threat to Russian citizens there. The move comes a day after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, provoking Moscow's indignation.
Travel association vice president Dmitry Gorin was quoted by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency as saying he expects the agencies will have to reimburse to 6,000 tourists whose vacations will be cancelled.
Protesters have hurled eggs and stones at the Turkish embassy in Moscow a day after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane Tuesday near the Syrian border. Windows at the embassy's compound were shattered and eggs pelted against the walls on Wednesday after a protest there went sour. Police cleared the area and made some arrests shortly after the protest began.
All the protesters seem to have left by Wednesday late afternoon, and the utilities services were cleaning the area.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry says the foreign ministers of Turkey and Russia have agreed to meet for talks over the downing of a Russian warplane. Russia's foreign minister, however, said that a meeting hadn't been confirmed.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said in a written statement that Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov agreed to a meeting "in the coming days," during a telephone conversation Wednesday.
Bilgic said during their conversation, Cavusoglu briefed Lavrov on Turkey's action. The two agreed to share details on the incident through "diplomatic and military channels."
But Lavrov said during a live TV interview that they had no concrete plans for a meeting. Lavrov said that Cavusoglu suggested they could meet at the sidelines of some event, but added that he has no such plans.
Russia's foreign minister says that "terrorists" have used Turkish territory to prepare attacks in other countries. Sergey Lavrov didn't name specific groups or countries. He said Wednesday that the downing of a Russian warplane on Tuesday followed Russian airstrikes on the oil infrastructure of extremists groups in Syria near the border with Turkey.
Russia's foreign minister says the downing of a Russian war plane by Turkey was a "planned provocation."
Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow will re-consider relations with Ankara following the shooting down of the plane on the Turkey-Syria border on Tuesday, but he didn't say what specific measures Russia would take.
Lavrov said "we have no intention to go to war with Turkey." Lavrov added that "our attitude to the Turkish people hasn't changed. "We only have questions about the Turkish leadership." He also said that advice to Russian citizens to refrain from visiting Turkey issued on Tuesday was based on extremist threats in Turkey.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is seeking to reduce tensions with Moscow, saying that Russia is Turkey's "friend and neighbor" and insisting relations cannot be "sacrificed to accidents of communication."
Davutoglu told his party's lawmakers on Wednesday that Turkey didn't know the nationality of the plane that was brought down on Tuesday until Moscow announced it was Russian. He again defended Turkey's action, saying Russia was warned on several occasions that Turkey would take action in case its border is violated in line with its military rules of engagement.
Davutoglu also said Russia is an "important partner and tops the list of countries with which we have shown great sensitivity in building ties." The Turkish prime minister, however, also criticized Russian and Syrian operations in Syria's Turkmen region, saying there is "not one single" presence of the Islamic State group there. Davutoglu demanded that operations there stop immediately.
Syria's army is confirming that it has rescued a Russian pilot whose plane was shot down by Turkey in an overnight qualitative joint operation with Russian forces.
A statement issued Wednesday by the Syrian armed forces says Syrian and Russian forces penetrated into areas where "terrorists" are entrenched at a depth of 4.5 kilometers (2.7 miles) to rescue the pilot. Syria's government refers to all rebels trying to topple President Bashar Assad as terrorists.
The statement added that the rescued pilot is in "good health." Russian officials have confirmed the rescue operation.
The other pilot of the Su-24 jet downed Tuesday by Turkey was reported dead and his body captured by Syrian rebels in an area known as the Turkmen Mountain in Syria's Latakia province.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the downing of a Russian warplane "has further aggravated the situation in Syria." Merkel told lawmakers in parliament on Wednesday that "we have to do everything now to avoid a further escalation."
Merkel says she had spoken to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in a telephone call Tuesday. She adds that only a long-term political solution will end the conflict in Syria. She says "there is no other way that will bring us closer to a lasting solution
Russian President Vladimir Putin says a second pilot from a Russian warplane that was shot down by Turkey near the Syrian border has been rescued. Putin was speaking in televised comments on Wednesday after Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russian news agencies that the man was rescued in a 12-hour operation which ended in the early hours on Wednesday and is now "safe and sound" at Russia's air base in the government-controlled area in Syria. The other pilot of the Su-24 jet was reported dead.
Russia's defense minister says that Moscow will send its news anti-aircraft missiles to Syria following Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane on Tuesday. Russian news agencies on Wednesday quoted Sergei Shoigu as saying that the S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems would be sent to the Hemeimeem air base in the government-controlled area which Moscow uses for its Air Force sorties.
S-400s were first put on active combat duty in Russia in 2007. Shoigu's statement comes a day after Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 on mission near the Syria border. One of the pilots was killed by ground fire as he parachuted from his crippled plane, the Russian general staff said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country does not wish to escalate tensions with Russia over the downing of the plane. Speaking at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation economy meeting in Istanbul, Erdogan said Wednesday that Turkey favors "peace, dialogue and diplomacy."
Erdogan however defended his country's move to shoot down the plane saying "no one should expect Turkey to stay silent to border violations or the violation of its rights." Turkey said the Russian warplane was shot down on Tuesday after it ignored repeated warnings and crossed into its airspace from Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced what he called a "stab in the back" and warned of "significant consequences."
A Syria watchdog says a Russian military pilot whose plane was shot down by Turkey has arrived at a Russian air base in Latakia province after being rescued by the Syrian army.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says a Syrian army commando unit staged a rescue operation for the pilot after pinpointing his location. It said the pilot is alive and arrived Wednesday morning at the Hemeimeem air base, near the city of Latakia. No other details were immediately available.
Syrian TV only quoted Russia's ambassador to France as saying the pilot is in the hands of the Syrian army. The Russian warplane was shot down by Turkey Tuesday. A second pilot was killed.
Russia's ambassador to France says a Russian military pilot shot down over Turkey is in the hands of the Syrian army.
Ambassador Alexander Orlov said on Europe-1 radio Wednesday that one of the pilots was wounded, then killed on the ground by "jihadists."
He says the other "managed to escape and be rescued by the Syrian army." He didn't elaborate.
Orlov denied Turkish government statements that the Russian plane had been warned repeatedly about an airspace violation before shooting it down plane. Orlov accused Turkey of being an "accomplice" of Islamic State extremists and playing an ambiguous role in Syria's civil war.
However he played down concerns of escalation of violence among the international players involved in Syria.
He said the way to end the conflict is by implementing the 2012 Geneva communique calling for a transitional government in Syria and the way to speed this is through the Vienna talks involving about 20 key parties which have spurred "some momentum."
Rycroft said a lot of work is taking place on defining terrorism, uniting the opposition, preparing for a cease-fire and who would monitor it ahead of the next round of talks in December.
Israel's Tourism Ministry is investing an extra $2.6 million to attract Russian tourists after crises in Egypt and Turkey.
Ministry spokeswoman Michal Gerstler says Israel has focused on Russia for a month "in an attempt to create an alternative."
Russian tour agencies suspended sales of packages to Turkey after Turkish warplanes shot down a Russian jet along the Syrian border on Tuesday. Some 4.5 million Russian tourists visit Turkey each year.Russia suspended passenger flights to Egypt after the Oct. 31 crash of a passenger plane in the Sinai Peninsula that killed all 224 people on board, nearly all of them Russians.
Russia said the plane was downed by a bomb, and the Islamic State group claimed the attack.Gerstler said Wednesday that Israel will woo Russians through online ad campaigns and other marketing channels.
European Council President Donald Tusk has ruled out the possibility of a coalition with Russia in Syria as long it targets moderate Syrian opposition groups. Tusk said Wednesday that the downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey on Tuesday "underlines the difficult situation in Syria where there are different actors with different interests conducting different operations with different aims."
He said there is only one way to avoid such incidents in the future and that is to concentrate all resources on the fight against the Islamic State group.He said "this should be a common objective" and "there will be never be a coalition to fight the moderate Syrian opposition. Everybody needs to understand that."
Iran is lashing out at Turkey over the shooting down of a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border, saying Ankara is responsible for heightened tensions in the region. Iran and Russia are key allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad, while Turkey is a leading supporter of the rebels fighting to overthrow him.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said these "provocative actions and their many legal consequences are the responsibility of the initiator." He adds that "on the basis of the information we have up to now, the plane was involved in operations in the Syrian airspace."
Iran's parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, as calling the downing of the Russian jet a "big mistake." Turkey says it fired on the jet after it intruded into its airspace.
NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg says the downing of a Russian plane by alliance member Turkey "highlights the need to strengthen the mechanisms to avoid such incidents in the future."
Stoltenberg wrote in an op-ed piece scheduled to be published Thursday in a number of leading European newspapers that "we should not sleepwalk into unintended escalation." Stoltenberg said the incident Tuesday requires "calm and diplomacy," and shows the need to update longstanding agreements meant to guarantee a maximum degree of transparency and predictability for military activities in Europe.
The NATO chief accused Russia of walking away from some of those accords, or exploiting their loopholes.
He added that "this is not a new Cold War," but it is "a wakeup call."
Turkey's state-run news agency and Syrian activists say airstrikes on the Syrian town of Azaz near the Turkish border hit an aid convoy. The Anadolu agency says seven people were killed and 10 wounded in strikes that it said hit a convoy taking supplies to refugees in Azaz on Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear if the strikes were carried out by Russian or Syrian warplanes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported earlier intensive Russian airstrikes in Azaz.
France's lower house of Parliament is debating whether to extend airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria after the group claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks in Paris. The government is trying to rally global action against the group.
French fighter jets joined the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State extremists in Iraq in 2014, and expanded their mission to Islamic State targets in Syria in September. President Francois Hollande cited specific threats against French interests stemming from IS in Syria.
France's National Assembly is debating whether to extend the campaign in Syria, and the Senate is scheduled to debate it as well. The measure is expected to pass in both houses, amid national concern following the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.
A Russian pilot who has survived the downing of his warplane says Turkish jets did not issue any warnings. Capt. Konstantin Murakhtin said Wednesday on Russian television that his plane was flying over Syrian territory and didn't violate Turkish airspace.
Muravkin was rescued early Wednesday by Russian and Syrian commando and was speaking in televised comments from the Russian Hemeimeem air base in Syria
Syrian rebels say Russian forces are pounding insurgent-held areas in Syria's Latakia province, unleashing a wave of airstrikes on mountains near where a Russian jet was shot down the previous day.
Jahed Ahmad, a spokesman for a rebel brigade in the region affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, says the Russians appear to be taking "revenge" for the plane's downing by Turkey, a key backer of the rebels in the area.
Speaking from inside Syria via Skype on Wednesday, he says the Russian jets were providing cover for advancing Syrian ground forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies. Syrian TV also reported advances by Syrian forces in Lattakia province Wednesday.
The Russian Association of Travel Agencies says several Russian agencies have stopped selling package tours to Turkey.
Turkey, along with Egypt, has long been a top destination for Russian tourists.
The travel industry group said in a statement Wednesday that several major travel agencies are no longer selling tours to Turkey following an official travel warning about a potential threat to Russian citizens there. The move comes a day after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border, provoking Moscow's indignation.
Travel association vice president Dmitry Gorin was quoted by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency as saying he expects the agencies will have to reimburse to 6,000 tourists whose vacations will be cancelled.
Protesters have hurled eggs and stones at the Turkish embassy in Moscow a day after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane Tuesday near the Syrian border. Windows at the embassy's compound were shattered and eggs pelted against the walls on Wednesday after a protest there went sour. Police cleared the area and made some arrests shortly after the protest began.
All the protesters seem to have left by Wednesday late afternoon, and the utilities services were cleaning the area.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry says the foreign ministers of Turkey and Russia have agreed to meet for talks over the downing of a Russian warplane. Russia's foreign minister, however, said that a meeting hadn't been confirmed.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic said in a written statement that Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov agreed to a meeting "in the coming days," during a telephone conversation Wednesday.
Bilgic said during their conversation, Cavusoglu briefed Lavrov on Turkey's action. The two agreed to share details on the incident through "diplomatic and military channels."
But Lavrov said during a live TV interview that they had no concrete plans for a meeting. Lavrov said that Cavusoglu suggested they could meet at the sidelines of some event, but added that he has no such plans.
Russia's foreign minister says that "terrorists" have used Turkish territory to prepare attacks in other countries. Sergey Lavrov didn't name specific groups or countries. He said Wednesday that the downing of a Russian warplane on Tuesday followed Russian airstrikes on the oil infrastructure of extremists groups in Syria near the border with Turkey.
Russia's foreign minister says the downing of a Russian war plane by Turkey was a "planned provocation."
Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow will re-consider relations with Ankara following the shooting down of the plane on the Turkey-Syria border on Tuesday, but he didn't say what specific measures Russia would take.
Lavrov said "we have no intention to go to war with Turkey." Lavrov added that "our attitude to the Turkish people hasn't changed. "We only have questions about the Turkish leadership." He also said that advice to Russian citizens to refrain from visiting Turkey issued on Tuesday was based on extremist threats in Turkey.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is seeking to reduce tensions with Moscow, saying that Russia is Turkey's "friend and neighbor" and insisting relations cannot be "sacrificed to accidents of communication."
Davutoglu told his party's lawmakers on Wednesday that Turkey didn't know the nationality of the plane that was brought down on Tuesday until Moscow announced it was Russian. He again defended Turkey's action, saying Russia was warned on several occasions that Turkey would take action in case its border is violated in line with its military rules of engagement.
Davutoglu also said Russia is an "important partner and tops the list of countries with which we have shown great sensitivity in building ties." The Turkish prime minister, however, also criticized Russian and Syrian operations in Syria's Turkmen region, saying there is "not one single" presence of the Islamic State group there. Davutoglu demanded that operations there stop immediately.
Syria's army is confirming that it has rescued a Russian pilot whose plane was shot down by Turkey in an overnight qualitative joint operation with Russian forces.
A statement issued Wednesday by the Syrian armed forces says Syrian and Russian forces penetrated into areas where "terrorists" are entrenched at a depth of 4.5 kilometers (2.7 miles) to rescue the pilot. Syria's government refers to all rebels trying to topple President Bashar Assad as terrorists.
The statement added that the rescued pilot is in "good health." Russian officials have confirmed the rescue operation.
The other pilot of the Su-24 jet downed Tuesday by Turkey was reported dead and his body captured by Syrian rebels in an area known as the Turkmen Mountain in Syria's Latakia province.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the downing of a Russian warplane "has further aggravated the situation in Syria." Merkel told lawmakers in parliament on Wednesday that "we have to do everything now to avoid a further escalation."
Merkel says she had spoken to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in a telephone call Tuesday. She adds that only a long-term political solution will end the conflict in Syria. She says "there is no other way that will bring us closer to a lasting solution
Russian President Vladimir Putin says a second pilot from a Russian warplane that was shot down by Turkey near the Syrian border has been rescued. Putin was speaking in televised comments on Wednesday after Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russian news agencies that the man was rescued in a 12-hour operation which ended in the early hours on Wednesday and is now "safe and sound" at Russia's air base in the government-controlled area in Syria. The other pilot of the Su-24 jet was reported dead.
Russia's defense minister says that Moscow will send its news anti-aircraft missiles to Syria following Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane on Tuesday. Russian news agencies on Wednesday quoted Sergei Shoigu as saying that the S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems would be sent to the Hemeimeem air base in the government-controlled area which Moscow uses for its Air Force sorties.
S-400s were first put on active combat duty in Russia in 2007. Shoigu's statement comes a day after Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 on mission near the Syria border. One of the pilots was killed by ground fire as he parachuted from his crippled plane, the Russian general staff said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country does not wish to escalate tensions with Russia over the downing of the plane. Speaking at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation economy meeting in Istanbul, Erdogan said Wednesday that Turkey favors "peace, dialogue and diplomacy."
Erdogan however defended his country's move to shoot down the plane saying "no one should expect Turkey to stay silent to border violations or the violation of its rights." Turkey said the Russian warplane was shot down on Tuesday after it ignored repeated warnings and crossed into its airspace from Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced what he called a "stab in the back" and warned of "significant consequences."
A Syria watchdog says a Russian military pilot whose plane was shot down by Turkey has arrived at a Russian air base in Latakia province after being rescued by the Syrian army.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says a Syrian army commando unit staged a rescue operation for the pilot after pinpointing his location. It said the pilot is alive and arrived Wednesday morning at the Hemeimeem air base, near the city of Latakia. No other details were immediately available.
Syrian TV only quoted Russia's ambassador to France as saying the pilot is in the hands of the Syrian army. The Russian warplane was shot down by Turkey Tuesday. A second pilot was killed.
Russia's ambassador to France says a Russian military pilot shot down over Turkey is in the hands of the Syrian army.
Ambassador Alexander Orlov said on Europe-1 radio Wednesday that one of the pilots was wounded, then killed on the ground by "jihadists."
He says the other "managed to escape and be rescued by the Syrian army." He didn't elaborate.
Orlov denied Turkish government statements that the Russian plane had been warned repeatedly about an airspace violation before shooting it down plane. Orlov accused Turkey of being an "accomplice" of Islamic State extremists and playing an ambiguous role in Syria's civil war.
However he played down concerns of escalation of violence among the international players involved in Syria.
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