Turkey continues to welcome visitors despite tougher European Union rules for tourists from Russia
Russian visitors are giving a boost to Turkey’s key tourism sector at a crucial time for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose popularity has taken a hit amid an economic crisis. But opposition politicians in Turkey say Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is hurting the industry.
Russia is the second biggest source of tourists for Turkey, with nearly 2.2 million Russians visiting so far this year, according to Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Ministry.
This represents an increase from the 1.5 million Russian tourists in 2021, when the industry was rebounding from the earlier period of the coronavirus pandemic.
However, Çetin Osman Budak, a Turkish lawmaker from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) who represents the tourist hub of Antalya, said that while the number of Russian tourists was up this year, it was still lower than the number before the pandemic.
“Before Russia’s attack on Ukraine, the tourism industry had high hopes for these two markets, but the war has ruined those plans,” Budak told The Media Line. “If there had been no war, a much higher number of Russian tourists would have visited our country.”
Budak reports that the number of Ukrainian visitors fell by 66% in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period last year.
“Russian and Ukrainian tourists are extremely important for Turkish tourism. During the pandemic, especially as European countries took very serious lockdown measures, tourists from Russia and Ukraine prevented the sector from completely collapsing,” he said.
Senior Ukrainian officials have urged countries to ban visitors from Russia.
Russian and Ukrainian tourists are extremely important for Turkish tourism. During the pandemic, especially as European countries took very serious lockdown measures, tourists from Russia and Ukraine prevented the sector from completely collapsing.
Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with The Washington Post that Russian visitors should be banned, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote in an op-ed in Politico that the European Union and the G- 7, of which Turkey is not a member, should ban Russian tourists, businessmen and students.
“And while the legal responsibility for the crimes committed is, indeed, individual, there is also a common social responsibility that all Russians should bear for the horrors that have been inflicted on Ukraine,” Kuleba wrote.
Last week, the EU announced it would suspend the visa facilitation program that has made it easier for Russians to visit the bloc.
This could make it even more likely that Russians choose to spend their tourist dollars in Turkey, which has not closed its airspace to flights from Russia, unlike its Western allies.
The tourism sector plays a key role in the Turkish economy.
In 2019, before the pandemic, travel and tourism accounted for 11% of Turkey’s gross domestic product and nearly 2.3 million jobs, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
Russia has been a top source of tourism to Turkey for years, amid Erdogan’s deepening ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who analysts say is driven by the Turkish president’s geopolitical ambition to reduce Ankara’s dependence on its Western allies.
The most controversial decision was Turkey’s purchase of a Russian missile defense system.
Apart from tourism, Russia is also an important source of energy and trade, and since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ankara has struggled to maintain ties with both countries.
Some of this is likely to be security concerns and domestic issues, with Moscow leveraging significant influence in Syria where it backs Syrian President Bashar Assad and could help launch an attack that would drive millions more refugees to Turkey.
Turkey has not imposed sanctions on Russia, and a month after the invasion of Ukraine, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Russian oligarchs may visit his country.
In August, AFP reported that a major Turkish business association said it had received a letter from the US government warning that Turkish companies could be sanctioned for their work with Russian companies.
It’s not just Russian tourists who flock to Turkey.
The weakening of the country’s lira, which lost 44% of its value last year, has also made it a more attractive tourist destination, with increasing numbers of tourists from Germany, the United Kingdom and the Bulgaria.
The numbers could boost Erdogan’s popularity, which has waned due to the weak economy, and polls show him trailing several opposition leaders within a year of national elections.
Soner Cagaptay, a senior Turkey researcher at the Washington Institute, said increased tourism, investment and trade from Russia, as well as the Gulf, was crucial for Erdogan.
“Turkish President Erdogan’s re-election platform has an element of strong opening of the economy to provide a sense of relief so that citizens forget the difficult time they have been through,” Cagaptay told The Media Line. .
“Tourism is a very important part of it,” he said.
