Around 22 on Tuesday night, at least three suicide bombers first fired on the crowd in the Ataturk airport’s arrivals in Istanbul, then blew themselves up. The provisional evaluation of the attack, according to initial assumptions due to ISIS, is 36 dead and over 140 wounded. A new shadow lengthens over Turkey, for months a terrorist target. In 2016, before the last night, there were eight attacks with just under 100 total victims. The climate of uncertainty can have repercussions on the influx of tourists and luxury international guests in Turkey and Europe. According to a research by Agility Research, the Asian luxury travelers in the last year have preferred the big cities of the Far East (especially the Japanese ones) also for the climate of insecurity felt in the Old Continent. A blow for a city like Istanbul, manned by high-end boutiques and where new openings are scheduled (Dsquared2 and ELEVENTY are the next). The attack, moreover, comes while Ankara is trying to mend diplomatic relations with Russia, to revive even commercial ones. Turkey, in fact, would officially apologized to Moscow for the shooting down of the aircraft, which took place on the border with Syria last 24 November. The Kremlin would have received a formal letter signed by the Turkish President Erdogan. Now we must wait for the reaction of Moscow: after months of media campaign against Ankara, will it loosen its grip on Turkey? On the Turkish letter of apologizes, the economic factor has weighed inevitably. According to the head of Russian diplomacy in Ankara, Andrei Karlov, Russian economic sanctions against Istanbul will cause Turkey losses of 11 billion dollars in 2016. In 2015, the Turkish exports to Russia fell by 35%. Among the sectors most affected, those of leather industry. For Turkish footwear, Russia was the first market with 130 million dollars. In 2015, the loss was 36% and the first quarter of 2016 exports fell by 57%. In 2015 the export of leather products to Russia decreased by 80%, causing the closure of 40% of the approximately 600 shops of the Zeytinburnu district of Istanbul and leaving 3,000 people jobless. The Turkish association of exporters of leathergoods (IDMIB) said that exports to Russia fell by 50%.
Attack of Istanbul: possible (additional) impact on luxury consumption. Meanwhile, Ankara apologizes to Moscow to lift the embargo
