Turkey Readies Closure Of Straits To Russian Navy

"Sunday for the first time Turkey signaled it is ready to block Russian naval access to the
Black Sea...

" Turkey ’s foreign minister said Sunday that the situation in Ukraine had become a war, a legal distinction that paves the way for Ankara to potentially ban Russian warships from entering the Black Sea through a strategic chokepoint," The Wall Street Journal reports. The terms of the 1936 Montreux Convention is now expected to be triggered. Speaking to CNN Turk Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said:

“We came to the conclusion that the situation in Ukraine has transformed into a war,” and this means “We will implement all articles of Montreux transparently.”

Last Thursday - which was the first day of the all-out Russian invasion, Ukraine's government urged Turkey to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits for all Russian warship passage." ZH