Tensions mount after gun toting Russian warship sails through Bosphorus
TURKEY has expressed its anger after a Russian warship carrying soldiers holding rocket launchers sailed through its waters.
The Caesar Kunikov was photographed sailing through the Bosphorus strait early yesterday morning.
The news comes after a Russian fighter jet was shot down over Turkish air space last month.
This is provocation
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused Russia of acting provocatively.
He said: “This is provocation, this is a harassing passage.”
However, he was quick to point out that trade boats passing through the Bosphorus was a different thing, regarding the Montreux Convention, which allows ships to go through both the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits.
He said: “The passages should be made in accordance with the international agreements, whether it is a Russian ship or of another nationality, the rules have long been determined.
“The showing off of a missile by a soldier on a Russian warship, or other things such as anti-aircraft weapons, is pure provocation. I hope that this is an isolated case. It is not the right approach,”
The case of the Russian fighter jet led to a series of sanctions after pilot Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Peshkov was killed.