Turkey has blocked two Royal Navy minehunter ships from entering its waters en route to the Black Sea for use by Ukraine, claiming it would violate an international pact concerning wartime passage of the straits.
Britain said last month it would transfer two Royal Navy minehunter ships to the Ukrainian Navy to help strengthen Ukraine’s sea operations in its war with Russia.
But fellow NATO member Turkey informed allies that it would not allow the vessels to use its Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits as long as the war in Ukraine continues.
The Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits both lie in Turkey’s territory, and are the only way to get into the Black Sea via waterways, making them exceedingly valuable. The waterways are controlled by the Turkish cities of Çanakkale and Istanbul.
When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Turkey triggered the 1936 Montreux Convention, effectively blocking passage of military ships for the warring parties. The pact exempts ships returning to home bases.
The Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits both lie in Turkey’s territory, and are the only way to get into the Black Sea via waterways, making them exceedingly valuable
Turkey has implemented Montreux impartially and meticulously to prevent escalation in the Black Sea, the president’s office claims.
Ankara maintains good ties with both Kyiv and Moscow amid the war, despite Turkey’s membership to NATO.
Russia already has naval bases in the Black Sea, following the 1997 Partition Deal in which Ukraine agreed to lease major part of its new bases in Sevastopol, Crimea, which is how it was able to maintain a military presence in the area.
Following the 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea, Russia took full control of the Sevastopol base, one of the few warm deepwater ports that Russia controls.
The headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet, which also runs naval operations in the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea was destroyed in September by a Ukrainian missile attack using British-made Storm Shadow missiles.
Ukraine says that 34 Russian officers, including Admiral Viktor Sokov, commander of the Black Sea Fleet, were killed in the strike on the Sevastopol base, while 105 soldiers were injured.
has contacted the UK’s Ministry of Defence and NATO for comment.