MPs from the Communist Party, Valery Rashkin and Sergei Obukhov, have asked the Russian president to temporarily ban flights to Turkey and Tunisia. According to them, flights to Turkey and Tunisia could be dangerous due to the presence of Islamic State.
A member of the Federation Council Committee for International Affairs, a representative of the executive body of state power of the Ryazan Region, Igor Morozov, told Vestnik Kavkaza that "the Middle East, which is a tourist mecca for Russians, has today an insufficient level of security not only on the beaches, hotels and other common areas, but also at airports."
"I think that today the main thing for us is the security of Russians traveling abroad. We see tha it is at the lowest level at airports in Egypt and some other countries. We clearly understand that the terrorist organizations today will do everything possible to sow chaos in the Middle East. There are already known statements by a number of militants that directly threaten the tourism cluster with terrorist attacks in the near future. In this regard, it seems to me that we should not underestimate this danger and to take all measures to prevent terrorist attacks," he said.
"Turkey is on the border with Syria, and there are the headquarters of IS in the north of this country. There were two powerful terrorist attacks in Turkey. European tourists were killed right on the beach in Tunisia. Therefore, these two areas cannot be considered safe for Russian tourists. Besides, I think that it is necessary to prohibit all flights to Libya, because its territory is not controlled by the state," the member of the Federation Council stressed.
"There are other areas: Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Thailand, the southwest coasts of India and Sri Lanka," he said.
The president of the International Association of Veterans of the Alfa Anti-terror Unit, Sergey Goncharov, also said that such a measure may be justified.
"What other reaction should we expect if we are witnessing that IS has declared war to Russia? We need to strengthen the security services. And if our intelligence agencies believe that security in airports of Turkey or Tunisia does not meet the proper level, then I think it is the absolutely right decision," Sergey Goncharov said.
The press secretary of the Federal Tourism Agency, Svetlana Sergeyeva, in her turn, drew attention to the fact that it is not necessary to sound the alarm prematurely. "It is the competence of the Foreign Ministry, the Federal Security Service and special bodies. As I understand it, the initiative wasn't introduced and supported by everyone. The situation with the closure of air links between Russia and Egypt signaled to the tourism industry that it is time to refocus on Russian domestic tourism," she reassured.
