Conflict against Russia could lead to $9 billion loss for Turkey

Turkey's economy is at risk of losing $9 billion as Russia imposes sanctions involving food imports and energy supplies.

The Moscow Times wrote that Turkish deputy prime minister Mehmed Simsek announced this issue in a TV show in NTV. He said Turkish officials are hoping to de-escalate its problem with Russia. The conflict rooted when a Russian Su-24 military plane was shot down late November by a missile from an F-16 interceptor stationed close to the Turkish-Syrian border.

One of the sanctions from Russia is the ban of food imports from Turkey, which is seen to cost the economy $4 billion. The ban on package tours will also lead to more losses. Turkey is also dependent on Russia's energy supplies, but Simsek said the conflict has not yet affected this aspect.

Times Oracle reported that 55 percent of Turkey's natural gas is from the Russian Federation, as well as 30 percent of its oil.

He said, "Breaking all links with Russia - a situation we are not considering at the moment - may cost the economy 0.3-0.4 percent of GDP."

Yahoo News reported that the current conflict will cut 0.3 to 0.4 percent from Turkey's GDP. According to Simsek, the Russian tourists visiting their country have significantly dropped, along with the construction contracts. He said there are 603,000 fewer Russians coming in to Turkey. 

"We have always seen Russia as an important partner and have no intention to escalate the tensions any further," said Simsek. "But if Russia continues to maintain this attitude.... all kinds of dissuasive measures will be taken."

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Saturday that his Turkey is looking for alternatives to energy it gets from Russia. He pledged that Turkey will not falter under the sanctions imposed by Russia.

Some of the other suppliers the country is eyeing include Qatar and Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the conflicts would affect relations between Russia and Turkey.