Turkish officials have sunk an Airbus A300 in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Turkey to create an artificial reef. The move comes as tourism to the country is in sharp decline following tensions with Moscow. The airplane was dismantled and sunk off the resort town Kuşadası, which is a popular diving destination in Turkey.

Özlem Çerçioğlu, the metropolitan mayor, had this to say: “With this project, the aim is to increase the underwater biodiversity off [the coast of] Kuşadası and to further develop underwater tourism in the area. We expect some 250,000 domestic and foreign tourists per year to come here for diving.”

Read the full article here.