1ST LEAD Turkey summons Russian ambassador over «provocation» on Bosporus By Shabtai Gold and Peter Spinella

Istanbul/Moscow (dpa) - Turkey‘s Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned the Russian ambassador over what it termed a "provocation" on the Bosporus by a Russian serviceman aboard a naval ship, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported.The serviceman was photographed on Sunday holding up a rocket launcher as the Russian ship passed through the strait which bisects Istanbul, local media reported.Relations between Russia and Turkey have rapidly deteriorated since late last month when the Turkish air force shot down a Russian warplane that allegedly violated Turkish airspace. Russia denies that allegation.Russia said Monday that it completed a federal programme to bring back nearly 9,000 Russian tourists who were in Turkey on package holidays.Only about ten such tourists were still in Turkey by Monday, and they were set to return home by the end of the month, the Federal Tourism Agency‘s Svetlana Sergeyeva told Russian state news agency TASS.On November 24, a Turkish fighter jet shot down the Russian warplane, which had been operating in neighbouring Syria and allegedly flew into Turkish airspace. Turkey says it warned the Russian plane before firing.One of the plane‘s two aviators was killed after ejecting, apparently by gunfire from the ground, and a Russian marine sent on a rescue mission to recover the other aviator was also killed.Russia responded with a slew of sanctions against Turkey, including import bans and travel restrictions.The incident followed at least two alleged violations of Turkish airspace by Russian warplanes in October over which Ankara summoned the Russian ambassador at the time.Russia has been conducting a bombing campaign against rebel groups in Syria since September.Turkey, a NATO member state, is among the staunchest supporters of the Syrian opposition, whereas Russia backs the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.The Syrian civil war erupted in 2011 during a government crackdown on protests against the ruling regime. About a quarter of a million people have been killed in the conflict, according to estimates by the United Nations.