Turkey blocks warships from straits amid Russia-Ukraine crisis | Al Jazeera

Turkey has barred warships from passing through the key straits of Bosphorus and Dardanelles in a bid to de-escalate the crisis over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The move on Monday came after Kyiv asked Ankara to activate a 90-year-old international pact and prevent the transit of Russian warships from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea.

The Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits connect the Aegean, Marmara, and the Black Sea, the latter from which Russia launched an incursion on Ukraine’s southern coast.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday that Ankara is activating the Montreux Convention and warning both Black Sea and non-Black Sea countries not to pass warships through the Turkish waterways.