Turkey does not want to take a hard line against Russia

Istanbul The Turkish government has closed the Bosphorus to all warships not based in the Black Sea. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday evening that his country would apply the Montreux Treaty and ban warships from using the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits. Ukraine had asked Turkey to implement the 1936 agreement and prevent Russian warships from passing through.

Now Russian warships can no longer enter the Black Sea through the Turkish Straits. That sounds like a decisive move by Turkey to side with Ukraine. The statement by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also fits in with this: “We consider the Russian invasion of Ukraine to be unjust and illegal.”