Russia suspends the visa-free regime for Turkish citizens as of Friday, January 1, according to Tass news agency.

The decision to this effect was taken after the Turkish Air Force attacked Russia’s Sukhoi Su-24 bomber on November 24 , 2015, as it was performing a task within the framework of the anti-terror operation in the sky over Syria. As a result of the attack, the warplane was shot down, one of the pilots - crew commander Oleg Peshkov - was killed by the fire emanating from the ground. During the operation to rescue the second pilot another Russian military service member was killed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow would suspend the visa-free regime between Russia and Turkey as of January 1, 2016.