Turkey is in a tough spot over the Russia-Ukraine crisis

 The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) member Turkey is in a tough spot over the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Turkey finds itself in a frail position for maintaining its good relations with both countries.

On Thursday, Russia launched air and ground assaults on Ukraine. Turkey’s control over the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits made Turkey an indispensable partner for the West. Ukraine reportedly issued an official appeal to Turkey to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits to Russian warships.

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar informed Turkey about the latest situation in Ukraine and Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. 

Reportedly, Turkey has the legal authority to control the straits under the 1936 Montreux Convention. Under the Montreux Convention agreement, Turkey has exclusive rights to restrict the passage of warships not belonging to countries bordering the Black Sea. During wartime, Turkey can close the straits to the transit of all foreign warships. 

The Ambassador reportedly said, "The most important thing now is to support Ukraine. I call on the Turkish people and the Turkish authorities to help Ukraine.”

According to Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish program at the Washington Institute, if Turkey denied naval access to Russia into the Black Sea, then Russia would ask to renegotiate the Montreux Convention agreement and Turkey would never get a deal as good as the Montreux agreement again. According to Arab News, Cagaptay further said, for this reason, Turkey will not violate the existing convention. 

In a press statement on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey would not leave either Russia or Ukraine. Turkey has close ties with Ukraine in the defense industry and it is also heavily dependent on Russian gas and defense procurement. The country receives about 33 percent of its natural gas and 66 percent of wheat from Russia.