December 07, 2015•Update: May 09, 2022
ANKARARussia's ambassador to Turkey was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Monday over a photograph showing a Russian serviceman holding a missile launcher as his warship passed Istanbul.
In an hour-long meeting, Andrey Karlov was told the incident -- in which the Russian sailor appeared to aim the shoulder-fired launcher as the ship passed through the Bosphorus -- was a breach of the Montreux Convention.
The 1936 treaty gives Turkey control over tthe Istanbul and Canakkale Straits and regulates the passage of warships.
According to a Turkish diplomatic source, Burak Ozugergin, the general director of bilateral political affairs with responsibility for maritime matters, told Karlov acts "which are not in line either with the letter or spirit of the Montreux Convention or international law and that has nothing to do with the passage itself" are not to be repeated.
Karlov said he would communicate the message "in full" to Moscow.
Sunday’s incident, in which a photographer captured a serviceman aboard the Caesar Kunikov landing ship apparently aiming the surface-to-air missile launcher towards Turkey’s largest city, caused outrage.
Earlier on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged Russia to step back from its "provocative" position towards Turkey. He said the timing of the incident was not coincidental.
"Russia has to abandon this attitude," Cavusoglu told private 24 TV.
The incident took place as tensions between Turkey and Russia are at their highest since the end of the Cold War following the downing of a Russian warplane over southern Turkey, despite repeated warnings not to violate Turkish airspace.
