Will block passage of Ukraine-bound minehunter ships: Turkey

Ankara, Jan 3 (IANS) Turkey has said that it will not let two minehunter ships donated by the UK to Ukraine pass through the Turkish Straits to the Black Sea in line with the 1936 Montreux Convention.

“Our pertinent allies have been duly apprised that the minehunter ships donated to Ukraine by Britain will not be allowed to pass through the Turkish Straits to the Black Sea as long as the war continues,” the Presidential Communications Directorate was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying in a statement on Tuesday.Last month, the UK said it would transfer two Royal Navy minehunter ships to the Ukrainian Navy to help enhance Ukraine’s sea operations in its conflict with Russia.Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Turkey has control over the naval transit through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits that connect the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The pact allows Ankara to regulate the transit of naval warships through the straits during wartime and when it is threatened.–IANSint/sha