ANKARA, April 7: Turkey’s new tourism minister apologized to Russia on Thursday after he came under fire for calling Russian tourists ‘boorish’.

Atilla Koc, appointed tourism and culture minister in February, made the headlines when he said the Russians were a favoured clientele for the Turkish tourism sector, but added an unfortunate comparison.

“The Germans don’t spend much, but the Russians do — maybe it’s the boorishness of the nouveaux riche. Well, the Russians shouldn’t hear this because there’ll be a lot of them coming this year,” Mr Koc said on Wednesday.

He was speaking in the southern city of Mugla, apparently unaware that his remarks were caught on camera.

The minister said on Thursday he was “deeply sorry” for the comments, which he blamed on his ‘humorous nature’.—AFP