Turkey’s Foreign Ministry is set to summon Russia’s ambassador in Ankara, Andrei Karlov over pictures that have emerged in local media of a Russian warship in the Bosphorus Strait, Hurriyet reported.
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According to information, the reason for summoning of the ambassador was the Caesar Kunikov Russian military vessel in the straits, where Russian soldier stood on the deck with the Strela-2 man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called on Russia on Monday to end such “provocative acts”, saying Turkey obeys the Montreux Convention and has not blocked any Russian ships from passing through the Bosphorus.
“Russia has to abandon this attitude”, Cavusoglu told private 24 TV.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated sharply since Turkey last month shot down a Russian fighter jet, which it said was in its airspace.
“I hope it is an isolated incident, it is not a right approach”, he said, calling on Russian Federation to act as a “more mature state”.
The Bosphorus offers the only passage to the world’s oceans for the Russian Black Sea fleet.
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Moscow and Ankara are locked in their worst crisis since the Cold War over the November 24 jet downing on Turkey’s border with Syria, sparking fury and economic sanctions from the Kremlin.
