Two British minehunter ships destined for Ukraine cannot travel through Turkish waters, Ankara stressed Tuesday, citing an international pact.
U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps announced last month that Ukraine’s armed forces had struck a deal to procure the Sandown Class vessels from Britain’s Royal Navy as the war-torn country grapples with Russia’s continued blockade of the Black Sea.
But Turkey confirmed it had informed its NATO allies that the ships would not be allowed to travel through its waters.
Nobody expected it because there is a literal convention preventing it. Sure, Erdogan is a cunt, but this isn’t the first time Turkey has denied passage. They’ve done it to Russia. They’ve done it to the US. And for all your talk of Erdogan wanting his pound of flesh, nobody is stupid enough to go up against the US defence forces unless they have very solid backing for their stance. Which the convention gives them. This scenario would be completely different if they were making exceptions for some but not others, but they’re not.