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Russia withdraws from legal assistance treaty with Turkey

MOSCOW, December 24./TASS/. Russia withdraws from the treaty on mutual legal assistance on civil, trade and criminal cases signed with Turkey in 1997, says a government decree posted on the official web portal for legal information on Thursday.

This motion was coordinated with the Russian Foreign Ministry, the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Investigative Committee. The treaty with Ankara was signed on December 15, 1997.

Russian-Turkish relations soured after Russia’s Sukhoi Su-24 frontline bomber from the Russian air task force crashed in Syria on November 24, hit by an air-to-air missile fired from a Turkish F-16 fighter jet.

The Russian president said the downed Su-24 plane posed no threat to Turkey as it was carrying out an operation against the Islamic State terrorist organization outlawed in Russia, calling the attack "a stab in Russia’s back delivered by terrorists’ accomplices".

Meanwhile, Turkey’s General Staff claimed that the Russian combat plane had violated the Turkish air space. "The attack by the Turkish Air Forde on the Russian SU-24 plane in Syria will have serious consequences for relations between Russia and Turkey," Putin said.

On November 28 Putin signed a decree that suspends employment of Turkish workers starting from January 1, 2016. Also, Russia suspends the visa-free travel agreement with Turkey, imposes bans or restrictions on imports of certain goods. Besides, travel agencies are advised against selling holiday packages to Turkey. The government is instructed to tighten control over activities of Turkish haulage companies with the goal of ensuring security within Russia.