Some Russian designers offered to design t-shirts bearing anti-Turkish slogans to support Moscow's angry rhetoric, but they have failed in their bid because Putin's sanctions have led to disruptions in fabric imports from Turkey.
Diplomatic relations between two countries have been severely strained since Turkey downed a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border last month. Turkey has refused to apologize, emphasizing its need to defend its borders.
Russian News Service quoted designer Yekaterina Dobryakova as saying she was unable to start making anti-Turkish T-shirts because trucks carrying Turkish fabrics were getting detained at the border, The Moscow Times reported.
Meduza, a Riga-based online newspaper,quoting another designer, Alexander Konasov, saying that Turkey was a “monopolist” on Russia's textile market. “I will use Russian-made fabric to manufacture anti-Turkish shirts, intoduced on my website,” Konasov said, adding that they have several designs — with tomatoes, and with the words “I won't be going,” etc.
The Russian designer suggests his t-shirts are just one way that people can express their views on foreign policy. “Our clients follow the news and want to express their solidarity,” Konasov told Russian News Service.
President Vladimir Putin has banned imports of Turkish fruit and farm products, rescinded visa-free travel, and stopped travel agencies from offering tours to Turkey to strike a great blow to the Turkish economy in reprisal of the shooting down of its Su-24 bomber near the Turkish-Syrian border.
Putin has also called on his citizens to take their vacations in the Svalbard Islands, located in the Arctic Ocean halfway between Norway and the North Pole, rather than visiting Antalya, one of the most-visited holiday spots for Russians.
