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Russia's President Vladimir Putin has warned Turkey that it would pay for the downing of one of its warplanes on Tuesday. This comes after two Turkish F-16 fighter jets shot down a Russian Su-24, saying the Russian jet was flying over Turkish airspace. Moscow denies this and said its plane was over Syrian airspace. Turkey has warned Russia several times before after Russian planes flew over Turkish territory. Turkey said its fighter pilots warned the Russian pilots 10 times before they fired missiles at them. However, the Russian pilot who survived the shooting said he received no warnings at all and that he was not flying over Turkish airspace. Russia said the shooting was planned beforehand.
President Putin has advised all Russians to avoid going to Turkey. He has also said Russia would cut many economic ties with Turkey. Several major Russian holiday firms have removed packages to Turkey. This could hurt Turkey as 4.4 million Russians go there on vacation each year. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said a number of big joint projects between the two countries would be stopped. In addition, Turkish companies with strong trading ties to Russia will also face more difficult trading conditions. Turkey imports almost all of its energy from Russia, including 60 per cent of its gas and 35 per cent of its oil. Russia is also due to build Turkey's first nuclear power station, which is a $20 billion project.
