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Turkey announced on Tuesday (Jan 2) that it will not allow two Royal Navy minesweepers that Britain donated to the Ukrainian navy last month to pass through its waters en route to the Black Sea, citing concerns about the international Montreux Convention, which deals with naval warfare in times of war. Strait crossing, injury reported Reuters.
The Presidency’s Communications Directorate announced that Turkey will not allow the passage of minesweepers donated by the United Kingdom to Ukraine to improve Ukraine’s naval operations through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, citing the reason for the restriction ongoing war in Ukraine.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Turkey applied the 1936 Montreux Convention and blocked the movement of warring parties’ military ships through its waters.
The Montreux Convention exempts ships returning to their home countries, and currently neither Russia nor Ukraine have expressed any intention to sail their warships through the Turkish Straits to the Black Sea. At that time, Turkey also warned non-Black Sea countries not to send warships through the strait.
Under the Montreux Convention, warships from non-belligerent parties can pass through the strait in times of war, but Turkey has the final say if it believes there is a threat.
The Presidency stated that Turkey objectively implemented the Montreux Agreement to prevent an escalation of the situation in the Black Sea, he writes Reuters.
Also read: VIDEO | Russia attacks Ukrainian cities after Putin vows revenge
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