Putin Accuses Turkey of Collaborating with Extremists and Terrorists

Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, on Thursday, April 15, described Turkey as unsafe for Russian travelers and its government as a collaborator with terrorists and extremist groups during his annual press conference. According to Reuters, Putin stated that there is essentially a civil war ongoing in southern Turkey and that the Turkish leadership is cooperating with extremist groups instead of fighting them. He emphasized that there are currently 'no guarantees' for the safety of Russian travelers and tourists visiting Turkey. This statement from Putin will further impact Turkey's tourism industry, which has been in a dire state due to successive terrorist attacks, especially in recent months. Last year, Putin also accused the Turkish government of trading oil with ISIS, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan assured that he would resign if such allegations were proven. However, this is the path that the Russian government has taken since the downing of its fighter jet in Syria by Turkish forces, and relations between the two countries have not improved significantly since then. The Turkish army announced in December 2015 that it shot down a fighter jet that had violated its airspace along the Syrian border after ten warnings. Following this incident, Russia confirmed the downing of a Su-24 jet, stating that it was flying over Syria and denied violating Turkish airspace. Putin's harsh remarks on Thursday came just two weeks after Vitaly Churkin, Russia's representative to the United Nations, accused Turkey in a letter to the Security Council of being the main supplier of weapons and equipment to the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. Churkin also stated that these weapons were sent to ISIS under the supervision of the Turkish intelligence agency and by three non-governmental organizations. The Turkish government has not yet responded to Putin's remarks.