Russia Sanctions Turkish Food Imports After Takedown Of Russian Warplane

Russian president Vladimir Putin has signed an executive order detailing "special economic measures against the Turkish Republic" after a Turkish jet shot down a Russian fighter jet accused of violating Turkish airspace in late November.

Turkey has since maintained that the plane's shooting was justified, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisting that "Those who violated our airspace are the ones who need to apologize," and that the plane was only taken down after it ignored repeated warnings not to enter Turkish airspace.

Putin's executive order will go into immediate effect and follows unofficial sanctions on food products imported from Turkey, which began in response to the downing of the warplane.

"Russia has introduced enhanced monitoring of food supplies from Turkey and will conduct additional checks at the border and at production plants," Russia's Minister of Agriculture, Alexander Tkachev said last week. "The government has charged Rosselkhoznadzor [Russia's federal agricultural sanitation surveillance group] with implementing strict controls on the delivery of agricultural products and foods from Turkey, as well as conducting additional checks at the border and at production facilities in Turkey."

As of the implementation of the executive order, "certain goods originating from the Turkish Republic" have been banned or limited, as have services rendered in Russia by Turkish companies, and the hiring of Turkish nationals after December 31.

The measures will remain in place until otherwise noted by the Kremlin.