Russia is preparing additional measures as part of its retaliation against Moscow over the downing of its Su-24 warplane. Moscow is also calling for the apprehension of Alparslan Celik for participating in the murder of the Su-24 pilot.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has revealed the additional set of measures Russia is preparing for over the war plane incident. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that will come into affect on January 1, 2016. The decree will prohibit Russian employers from hiring Turkish citizens and will impose a food import ban on specific categories. Charter flights will also be affected.

"There will be further action, which will be announced later. The prime minister has already announced them at the [government] meetings," explained Arkady Dvorkovich, Russian deputy prime minister to the Rossiya-24 television channel via Sputnik. The Russian official clarified that the economic measures will not necessarily terminate cooperation with Turkey fully. Tensions rose between the two countries after Turkey shot down Russia's plane in November citing airspace violations.

In line with this, Russia continues to condemn all acts related to the warplane shooting. The Russian Foreign Ministry called out for the arrest of Alparslan Celik after he confessed to an interview about participating in the murder of the Su-24 pilot.

“We demand that the Turkish authorities take immediate action to catch Alparslan Celik and his accomplices and charge them with criminal offence for killing a Russian pilot and taking part in hostilities as members of an illegal armed group in a foreign country,” said Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, in a statement.

The spokesperson also pointed out that it is surprising that major Turkish newspaper, Hurriyet, will conduct such an interview. Maria Zakharova said that the paper gave the murderer and terrorist an avenue to boast about his nationalist ideology and crime.

“It is high time that Ankara explains its official position regarding the participation of its citizens in hostilities on the side of extremist illegal armed groups operating in a neighbouring country. Or will Turkey prefer to turn a blind eye to this issue as well?” Maria Zakharova added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed that Turkey should evaluate the statements and actions of Celik. Moscow claimed he confessed to committing an international crime after he said he participated in the murder of the pilot.

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