Passage of ships to Black Sea continues smoothly, Turkish officials say

ANKARA, Aug 9 - Ships are passing smoothly through the Turkish straits to the Black Sea despite heightened concerns about safety, two Turkish government officials told Reuters on Sunday.

On Saturday, Bloomberg News reported that Ankara had restricted commercial ship traffic entering the Black Sea following attacks on vessels there, including Turkish-owned ships.

Turkey has issued repeated warnings to Moscow and Kyiv over the attacks in the Black Sea, urging the warring sides to take measures to ensure navigational safety in the area.

On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara had conveyed to Moscow and Kyiv they should declare a moratorium on their attacks in the Black Sea.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Turkey had implemented some temporary measures because it had been highly uncomfortable about security for some time, but that passage was clear under the conditions of the Montreux Convention. They did not give further detail.

The 1936 Montreux Convention of the Regime of the Straits gives Turkey control over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, and the power to regulate transit of naval warships. It also guarantees the free passage of civilian vessels in peacetime and restricts the passage of ships not belonging to Black Sea countries.

Turkey, which has NATO's second-largest army, has maintained cordial ties with both Kyiv and Moscow since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. It has refused to join Western sanctions on Russia, while providing military support, including from its own inventory, to Ukraine. REUTERS