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Russian business ombudsman says does not expect big flow of tourists to Turkey

The Kremlin press service said earlier Vladimir Putin had lifted the ban on selling tours to Turkey to Russian holidaymakers

MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/. Turkey should not expect a big inflow of Russian tourists to its beach cities this season, the Russian presidential ombudsman for business, Boris Titov said on Thursday answering a question from TASS.

"I’m afraid Turkey won’t see too many tourists all the same," he said. "They (the Turkish authorities - TASS) may think that everyone will rush there right now but the general economic situation in Russia is such that the number of tourists won’t be as big as it was before the sanctions."

The Kremlin press service said earlier President Vladimir Putin had lifted the ban on selling tours to Turkey to Russian holidaymakers and had instructed the government to take steps towards resumption of chartered flights between Russian and Turkish cities.

Moscow imposed sanctions on holidaymaking tours to Turkey after the November 24, 2015, incident, in which a fighter jet of the Turkish Air Force brought down a Russian Su-24M bomber in the skies over Syria. The Turkish authorities claimed the Russian bomber had intruded Turkish airspace in an area adjoining the Syrian border.

The Russian Defense Ministry said then the bomber had been cruising exceptionally in the airspace over Syria and there had been no intrusion into the Turkish airspace.