Turkey Rejects to Limit Russian Warship Movement in Bosphorus, Dardanelles

Bosphorus bridge, which links the city's European and Asian sides, is pictured in Istanbul, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
Bosphorus bridge, which links the city's European and Asian sides, is pictured in Istanbul, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
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Turkey Rejects to Limit Russian Warship Movement in Bosphorus, Dardanelles

Bosphorus bridge, which links the city's European and Asian sides, is pictured in Istanbul, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
Bosphorus bridge, which links the city's European and Asian sides, is pictured in Istanbul, Turkey, July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Turkey cannot stop Russian warships accessing the Black Sea via its straits, as Ukraine has requested, due to a clause in an international pact that allows vessels to return to their home base, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.

Ukraine has appealed to Turkey to block Russian warships from passing through the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits.

The minister said Turkey, not being belligerent, can take “some measures regarding the countries that are parties to the war.”

“Turkey can stop the passage of warships through the straits. However, there is something special in the Montreux Convention. If there is a request for the ships of the warring countries to return to their bases, then they must be allowed.”

“Turkey is transparently following all clauses of the Montreux treaty with determination. This has been the case until today and Turkey will continue to strictly abide by the clauses of this treaty,” Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Sentop affirmed.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later said that reaction from NATO and Western countries to Russia's assault had not been decisive.

"It should not turn into an ordinary flurry of condemnation. NATO should have taken a more decisive step," Erdogan said Friday.

"The EU and all Western mentalities did not show a seriously determined stance, they are all constantly advising Ukraine. It is not possible to get anywhere with advice. When you look at the steps taken, there are no steps taken."

Erdogan and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron discussed Thursday Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine in a phone call, a statement said.

Erdogan and Macron discussed the intervention and the latest developments, the Turkish Communications Directorate said.

The Turkish President hosted Thursday a large delegation from the Union of International Democrats (UID).

Erdogan said Russia is violating international law and that a solution must be found within the framework of the Minsk agreements.

In a related context, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Thursday over the phone with the Turkish Foreign Minister.

Blinken strongly condemned Russia’s premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine. 

Blinken thanked Turkey for its strong and vocal support in defense of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Secretary further emphasized that Russia’s destructive actions will reverberate throughout Europe and the broader world.

Moreover, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar held a phone call with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, on Thursday to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

Akar also held a telephone conversation with Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov.



UN Warns US Aid Cuts Threaten Millions of Afghans with Famine

(FILES) Afghan men stand in a queue as they wait to receive food being distributed as an aid by the World Food Program (WFP) organization at Nawabad Kako Sahib area in Baraki Barak district of Logar Province on January 7, 2024. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
(FILES) Afghan men stand in a queue as they wait to receive food being distributed as an aid by the World Food Program (WFP) organization at Nawabad Kako Sahib area in Baraki Barak district of Logar Province on January 7, 2024. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
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UN Warns US Aid Cuts Threaten Millions of Afghans with Famine

(FILES) Afghan men stand in a queue as they wait to receive food being distributed as an aid by the World Food Program (WFP) organization at Nawabad Kako Sahib area in Baraki Barak district of Logar Province on January 7, 2024. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)
(FILES) Afghan men stand in a queue as they wait to receive food being distributed as an aid by the World Food Program (WFP) organization at Nawabad Kako Sahib area in Baraki Barak district of Logar Province on January 7, 2024. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP)

Fresh US cuts to food assistance risk worsening already widespread hunger in Afghanistan, according to the World Food Program, which warned it can support just half the people in need -- and only with half rations.
In an interview with AFP, WFP's acting country director Mutinta Chimuka urged donors to step up to support Afghanistan, which faces the world's second-largest humanitarian crisis, AFP said.

A third of the population of around 45 million people needs food assistance, with 3.1 million people on the brink of famine, the UN says.

"With what resources we have now barely eight million people will get assistance across the year and that's only if we get everything else that we are expecting from other donors," Chimuka said.

The agency already has been "giving a half ration to stretch the resources that we have", she added.

In the coming months, WFP usually would be assisting two million people "to prevent famine, so that's already a huge number that we're really worried about", Chimuka said.

Already grappling with a 40 percent drop in funding for this year globally, and seeing a decline in funding for Afghanistan in recent years, WFP has had to split the standard ration -- designed to meet the daily minimum recommended 2,100 kilocalories per person.

"It's a basic package, but it's really life-saving," said Chimuka. "And we should, as a global community, be able to provide that."
WFP, like other aid agencies, has been caught in the crosshairs of funding cuts by US President Donald Trump, who signed an executive order freezing all foreign aid for three months shortly after his inauguration in January.

Emergency food aid was meant to be exempt, but this week WFP said the United States had announced it was cutting emergency food aid for 14 countries, including Afghanistan, amounting to "a death sentence for millions of people" if implemented.

Washington quickly backtracked on the cuts for six countries, but Afghanistan -- run by Taliban authorities who fought US-led troops for decades -- was not one of them.

If additional funding doesn't come through, "Then there's the possibility that we may have to go to communities and tell them we're not able to support them. And how do they survive?"

She highlighted the high levels of unemployment and poverty in the country, one of the world's poorest where thousands of Afghans are currently being repatriated from Pakistan, many without most of their belongings or homes to go to.

'Vicious cycle'
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, this week urged international donors to keep supporting Afghanistan, saying 22.9 million needed assistance this year.

"If we want to help the Afghan people escape the vicious cycle of poverty and suffering, we must continue to have the means to address urgent needs while simultaneously laying the groundwork for long-term resilience and stability," said Indrika Ratwatte, the UN's resident and humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, in a statement.

The statement warned that lack of international aid in Afghanistan could lead to increased migration and strain on the broader region.

The call for funding comes as other countries including Germany and Britain have also made large cuts to overseas aid.

But the Trump administration cut has been the deepest. The United States was traditionally the world's largest donor, with the biggest portion in Afghanistan -- $280 million -- going to WFP last fiscal year, according to US State Department figures.

But other UN agencies, as well as local and international NGOs are being squeezed or having to shut down completely, straining the network of organisations providing aid in Afghanistan.

The Trump administration also ended two programs -- one in Afghanistan -- with the UN Population Fund, an agency dedicated to promoting sexual and reproductive health, the agency said Monday.

And other organisations working on agriculture -- on which some 80 percent of Afghans depend to survive -- and malnutrition are impacted.

"We all need to work together," said Chimuka. "And if all of us are cut at the knees... it doesn't work."