Turkey accused Russia of a “provocation” on Sunday after a serviceman on the deck of a Russian naval ship allegedly held a rocket launcher on his shoulder while the vessel passed through Istanbul.
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The passage of the Russian warship through the Turkish straits comes amid escalating tension between the two countries after a Turkish F-16 recently downed a Russian Su-24 near the Syrian border.
They purportedly show a Russian large landing ship – the Caesar Kunikov – passing by Istanbul on its way from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara.
On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called on Russian Federation to end “provocative acts” and said that Turkey had already taken the necessary steps in response to the incident, without giving further details.
“Breaking all links with Russian Federation – a situation we are not considering at the moment – may cost the economy 0.3-0.4 percent of GDP”, Simsek said.
The pictures showed the Russian serviceman on board the Caesar Kunikov as it passed through the Bosphorus strait.
Under a treaty dating from 1923, Turkey must let all ships pass through the strait, which runs through Istanbul, during peacetime.
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Turkey had considered Russian Federation a strategic partner as its main energy supplier, despite deep differences over Syria. Turkey said the plane was shot down because it violated Turkish airspace, while Russian Federation denied a violation had occurred and vowed serious consequences as a result.
