Turkey closes airspace to flights carrying Russian troops to Syria

“We did close the airspace for Russian military aircraft and even civilian aircraft to Syria to transport troops” – radio RT of Russia quoted the statement of Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on April 23 .

Radio TRT World Turkey said the above content was told by Minister Cavusoglu to reporters before a flight to Uruguay. TRT World The citation added: “We have authorized such flights for three months and will expire in April. Our President has informed President Vladimir Putin of this decision.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu – Photo: AA

According to RTAlthough Turkey is a member of NATO, it did not punish Russia during the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Mr. Cavusoglu said discussion of the resumption of flights would be brought up at negotiations on the Montreux convention, an international agreement governing maritime traffic in the Black Sea.

The agreement guarantees unrestricted passage for civilian ships in peacetime, but allows Turkey to close the Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits to military ships during war.

Turkey invokes the convention to prevent Russian warships from entering the Black Sea through the straits after Moscow’s military attack in Ukraine in February, but only restricts Russian ships whose home ports are located outside the Black Sea. .

According to TRT World, Minister Cavusoglu said that Turkey still cultivates close relations with Russia and seeks to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

If the talks make progress, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed that a meeting could be held in Turkey, Cavusoglu said.